Bro they're only communist by name.
A more accurate label for them is "state capitalist".
Or as they call it "Socialism with Chinese characteristics".
The chinese government are using different economic, political, social and cultural theories based on the current time period. It is an ingenious plan actually. I've read on it, and they are much more effective than any other capitalist system, and think of their size. Plus, they believe that the capitalist elements are just a natural progression to become a fully formed socialist country. They have three stages to fully form a socialist country. And now they are moving towards stage one. This stage is expected to last over a very long time. So the goal to fully form a socialist country is not a immediate hasty decision but a calculated progress based on current economical and social update.
In the west, we don't have this coherent goal oriented leadership. One leader established cooperation and economic relation, while the next one elected uses his power to destroy what the previous one created.
In the next coming years you will see a shift in the political and economic paradigm move in favour of the east. While the west have no progression. We like to demonise china, and off course it has it's problems, but their system are super flexible and goal oriented. 800 million people have come out of poverty since 1990.
They are chaning political and economic theories based on the current market. In the democratic west, if we have one instance of errors on the market, it will take many years of suffereing before they change it, because of disagreements between the ignorant, the rich and exploitative, and the educated. The leaders tend to support the rich intrest and uses the ignorant masses to convice of a stupid economic policy that goes against their self intrest. This would never happen in china.