Germany is trying to do the mercantilism thing as well.

I think the fundamental differentiation is the degree of state involvement, Han nationalism etc..

I don't want to use this word because it's a trigger and possibly misleading but 'Fascist' might actually be the best word to describe what China is right now. The economy is not centrally planned, but managed in coordination with major actors who often seem to want to participate in 'nation building'. There's a strong Han-nationalism among the people, very strong sense of national identity, mass propaganda, ethnocentrism. All of those later qualities are an important part of what is happening, but we in the West tend to think of them as 'cultural' issues. But really it's part of the overall picture. I think a lot of workers wouldn't be working quite as hard if there weren't some kind of national/cultural glory in it.

One thing I plan to do is to read "The doctrine of fascism" and compare it to the Lee Kuan Yew book about the building of Singapore, and with some good accounts of China's current policies. There must be a number of parallels, but also divergences.

Deng Xiaoping admired Lee Kuan Yew, visited Singapore, and copied his approach in reforming the Chinese economy, starting with the Special Economic Zone in Guangdong, which included delegating substantial power to the local secretary, later governor, Xi Zhongxun ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Zhongxun#As_Guangdong's_top...

... the father of Xi Jinping.