The boldness in China is truly a marvel

There is something both scary and remarkably impressive about how things operate in China.

Developed countries and developed-country people are used to slow change and hands-off government. When change comes, it's from technology or financial markets but rarely from government.

Take soccer/football.

Chinese president Xi Jinping. He's a big fan of soccer. Unfortunately, the sport isn't very popular in China and the team is ranked #86 by FIFA. In a democracy, the leader might shrug his shoulders and accept that the public doesn't like all the same things he does.

But China isn't a democracy and Xi decided to wave his hand and invest fortunes in turning China into a soccer-loving superpower. The China Daily reports the country will be 20,000 soccer schools this year and 40,000 by 2020. More than 200,000 coaches will be trained.

The scale is mind-blowing. There are stories about waste already and of course there will be massive amounts squandered. But you only need to train 11 great players to win the world cup.

China has a remarkable way of solving problems. They identify them and redirect a portion of their seemingly endless resources.

Take Chinese markets. Buying individual shares in Chinese companies is terrifying for a foreign investor. Stories about corruption and fraud are easy to find.

But also consider this: China is on its way to having the most transparent markets in the world and doesn't tolerate market manipulation or insider trading. Today regulators in China levied a $170 million fine on a Hong Kong trader. An even bigger fine is purportedly coming against a former controller at a technology company.

The biggest problem in developed markets is the difficulty in monitor who were the buyers and sellers. China's solution: mainland regulators have real-time monitoring and identification of every investor.

None of those ideas work here now but what happens if/when Chinese markets become better than in the US. When traders become so irritated with insider trading and manipulation that the volume moves to China. I, for one, would gladly give up any kind of anonymity in trading for a better-regulated market.

What happens when people just decide that parts of the Chinese model are better?