What Xi Means by ‘Disorderly Capital’ Is $1.5 Trillion Question

If nothing else, President Xi Jinping is known for his pursuit of order. So how far the Chinese president’s attack on the “disorderly expansion of capital” will go has emerged as a defining question for investors trying to navigate the country’s wave of regulatory crackdowns.

Since first appearing in a Politburo readout in December, the phrase has been employed by government agencies and researchers to explain actions against technology moguls, celebrities and private tutors that fueled a $1.5 trillion stock rout last month. The slogan, like “common prosperity,” is among several Xi-isms feeding concerns that China is tilting away from free markets and back toward more ideologically driven centralized planning.