In the expanding cities of China, the laws of economics appear to have been suspended. A consumer can walk into a showroom and drive away in a new electric vehicle for less than $10,000. On a secondhand luxury platform, a Coach handbag, originally purchased for over $450, can be had for just $30. In the hyper-competitive world of on-demand food delivery, tech behemoth Alibaba is preparing to burn through 50 billion yuan, or about $6.9 billion, in a single year on discounts and subsidies to win customers.