In the mild language often used to air debate in the country, a venerable Chinese economist has warned about what he calls a move to "state capitalism".

Worries that Chinese policymakers are taking the economy away from necessary market-driven reforms have been aired by an influential economist, Wu Jinglian, according to the South China Morning Post. 

Wu recently fired the warning at a time when Chinese authorities have sought to curb outflows of capital from the country, such as through toughened measures against offshore trusts. 

The veteran economist - he turns 89 this month - said state control of the economy will spawn “crony capitalism” and take China backwards, the newspaper said.

Recent years have seen measures by the Asian economic giant to put state-owned enterprise into private hands, open up its capital markets to foreigners, and forge stock market links between the mainland and Hong Kong, among other measures. Since the end of the Cold War, it has often been assumed by prophets of globalisation that the trend towards liberalism is inevitable – the “end of history”, to coin a phrase from the late 80s.

The ruling Communist Party remains in power, and the country has seemingly achieved the paradox of strong state control and regulation of many features of life – very different from a liberal democracy – while also moving towards a form of free enterprise. The balancing act can be difficult, as the rise of a large, educated middle class can often herald calls for more openness and political liberalism. With China needing to continue strong economic growth to help finance the costs of an ageing population, the sensitivities around its political system are considerable.

At the same seminar at which Wu’s comments were broadcast, Hu Deping, son of the late reformist General Secretary Hu Yaobang and an influential member of the liberal camp within the Communist Party, warned the Chinese leadership to learn from the mistakes of the former Soviet Union, the report said.

Concerns that the country could reverse some pro-market steps fit with a wider global trend towards economic populism since the financial market crash of 2008, often interpreted as a failure of capitalism. However, it is debated whether the crash was as much down to foolish government and central bank policy, such as encouraging sub-prime lending, as about any supposed flaws in the market system.