We shouldn't get hung up on Marxist orthodoxy. China IS the single best hope for communism in the world right now, and we should support that effort. Not blindly of course. But fundamentally, capital does not hold power in China, China is making strides every day towards communism, and the Chinese system is starting to spread to the global South, placing several countries on a viable path of liberation and sovereignty.

China was spared the fate of the USSR, because they realized that being under constant siege by most of the world was not a good strategy. They regressed somewhat, but the aim was to make themselves indispensable to the world economy, and thus dethrone the US from its role as economic hegemon. We see today that this has succeeded. And now (for the past 10 years) China is progressively returning back to what it had before it made these pro-capital changes. And this is only possible because China has never allowed the capitalist class it has fostered to take over the government.

As Marxists, our foremost principle when analyzing AES is to remember that the way socialism/communism are implemented depends on the material conditions of the country in question. There is a material reason for China allowing capitalist elements in its economy as I stated above.

I used to think like you once upon a time, until I started reading news on what is actually happening in China. I would suggest you do the same.