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Notes -
As said by others, China is not a Marxist-Leninist state in anything but name.
Key among the tenants of Marxism is a theory of history, where capitalism is but a step on a path that goes like this:
feudalism
capitalism
socialism / dictatorship of the proletariat
communism.
Communism being the end state where property and money are no longer necessary.
Yes, the USSR backtracked slightly from socialism->capitalism during the NEP years. This lasted for what, like 5 years? A temporarily pause until Stalin asserted control, and it was after the NEP, during the 1930s that Communist beliefs were strongest in Russia and worldwide. Useful idiots in the U.S. even moved to the Soviet Union to join the wonderful utopia. The vice president of the U.S. was a fellow traveler. Many westerners thought that centrally planned economies were inevitable, even desirable. That is what belief looks like.
China, on the other hand, has been capitalist for 45 years now. Where is the path towards communism? Does anyone in China actually think things are headed in that direction? Of course not. To quote Deng, "to get rich is glorious".
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