system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5:If China is a communist state, why are there so many multi billion dollar companies and free markets?

How communist can a country be when they are so wealthy, including many of its citizens?
gpt
Modern China was founded with communist principles in mind. But after Deng Xiaoping took power, he decided to move China toward a more capitalistic economy. But the Communist Party still rules China and therefore they still are labelled "communist". Similarly, the US isn't completely capitalistic because there are government regulations and also government-owned businesses (such as the post office).

It's really a label more than anything else.

EDIT: Another thing to point out is that a lot of those "billion dollar companies" are actually owned/operated by the Chinese government. For example: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. They have branches in the US now too.