> Xi was praised by majority of mainlanders because he lifted the country out of poverty. No, CCP is the entity people often attribute China's economic rise to

> Xi was praised by majority of mainlanders because he lifted the country out of poverty. No, CCP is the entity people often attribute China's economic rise to. And even that is not completely correct; Deng opened up the market a bit, and the Chinese people themselves took the opportunity to rebuild the economy from the ruins of central planning. > How to govern this big country effectively if not dictatorship? You can say that about groups of any size. It is often said a benevolent dictator is the most efficient and effective way to run a group: see Linux for an example. But this only works if everyone has shared goals and shared values. What if people have different opinions? Hint: look at how much China spends on "stability maintenance" (维稳) each year: it's bigger than their military budget.