In the past year and a half, China has arrested thousands of public officials, to much applause at home and abroad. The highest-profile cases concern high-ranking Communist party officials such as Zhou Yongkang, the former security chief. But when business executives have been the target, the anti-corruption campaign takes on a more insidious tinge. While private-sector wrongdoing has been energetically exposed, investigators often prefer to let sleeping dogs lie when state-backed businesses are involved.

Widespread corruption is usually blamed on the cronies of officials rather than the flawed governance that opens up the opportunity for the crime. These people, not themselves on the government payroll, have stolen huge sums from the state with the connivance of its employees. This serves only to reinforce the stereotype, a commonplace in China, that all merchants are crooks.

There is no doubt that some private business people have committed serious crimes. But that is not the end of the story. A deeper malaise is at work.