Free markets are a myth. Every country on Earth regularly interferes in the market to align it with its interests; China just does it more. That's still not communism, because you can't have billionaires (or private property in general) under communism. China under Mao was communist, but under Xi? No way. The Chinese government exerts significant control over its economy, but the primary driver of economic growth is still the private sector. China isn't doing anything fundamentally different from what any Western capitalist state could do if they got their act together for five minutes.