Introduction China’s economic reforms are unique in terms of mixing approaches of different political-economic systems. Despite this, the state remains a totalitarian regime with communist ideology. Understanding the mechanisms that underlie government decisions and socio-economic processes in China is extremely important for determining economic, political, social, and cultural international interaction. This paper aims to provide eloquent examples that prove that China remains a totalitarian state despite modern approaches. Political Economic Systems There are three most famous international political-economic systems, namely economic liberalism, mercantilism, and structuralism. Each method has its footholds and areas of interest, prioritizes different values, and addresses various political issues. The complex application of these systems is often found in many states, since individually, in its pure form, each method has its shortcomings and does not take into account some critical elements of the functioning of the state. Economic liberalism, or neo-liberalism, was popular in the United States during the Reagan presidency. The system has two camps of Orthodox Economic Liberals (OELs) who advocate market freedom and Heterodox Interventionist Liberals (HILs) who support government regulation. HILs believe that the state should intervene in markets and that are integrated into society. OELs advocate for the application of the laissez-faire principle when the government is disengaged from economic problems. In their opinion, in the absence of government intervention, a system with purely market conditions emerges. In such a scenario, people strive to accumulate wealth and efficiently allocate and use resources. Interestingly, the OEL model is the heart of the modern global economy. Mercantilism, or economic nationalism, gives more power to the state in protecting its financial priorities of accumulating wealth and power. For protection, hard power and soft power are used. Hard power is presented by military forces, economic leverages, and coercion used to defeat enemies and competitors. Soft power includes direct or covert propaganda of the values and ideals of the state. Propaganda can use any means of communicating with the audience, including art – films, music, theater performances, and public communications – television, radio, newspapers, magazines, Internet media, and social networks. Finally, structuralism sees the problems of political economies in light of social classes’ formation under the influence of the dominant economic structure. Structuralism supporters argue that the economy cannot exist in a social vacuum and is governed by political, economic, and social forces. Communist Political-Economic System Communism is a political and economic system with a declassed society opposing itself to liberal democracy and capitalism. The means of production in communist society are collectively owned; private property is absent or severely decreased. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels developed the communist ideology as the opposite of capitalist ideology. The most famous examples of communist society are the former Soviet Union and China, which have radically modernized their economic system. During the reign of Mao Zedong, China tightly controlled its citizens, implementing planned financial decisions, which often led t