is that we (the "West") look at China through Western eyes, and concepts. That's our filter, it what we've grown up with, so it's understandable. Problem is, we miss stuff as a result. Here's a great example of something missed:

China's `Underground' Loans Top $1.5 Trillion, Wen Wei Po Says
By Patricia Kuo

Aug. 3 (Bloomberg) -- So-called ``underground'' lending in China exceeds 10 trillion yuan ($1.5 trillion), the Wen Wei Po newspaper reported, citing lenders and market watchers it didn't identify.

Funding made available by unauthorized lenders including pawn shops and auction firms is thriving as banks tighten credit after a series of interest rate and reserve ratio increases, the Chinese-language newspaper said. Some such loans carry interest rates higher than 5 percent a month, it said.
LInk to the Article

Now, this is "off-the-books" lending that's not part of any official statistics, and in modern Western society, literally has no counterpart (Well, maybe loan sharking). But imagine $1.5 trillion dollars annually worth of loan sharking.

Or maybe a different, but more realistic comparison. How about the Chinese equivalent of sub-prime real estate mortgages?