u/cfgaussian - originally from r/GenZhou
There would be no reason for the USSR to go down the path China took if the Khrushchev coup never happened. Furthermore there would also be no reason for China to do what they did in the 1970s if the Sino-Soviet split and Soviet decline never happened. If the USSR stayed on the socialist path that Stalin had set it on, and China remained their staunch ally and close partner, then neither of the two countries would have needed to liberalize and make concessions to the west to attract foreign capital and technology since the USSR would be on par with the most developed western countries and they could be the ones to help China speed up their development instead of China having to pander to western capitalists to do so.

My view is that Opening Up and Reform was something done out of necessity, not because it was inevitable or the most ideal choice for a socialist country to make. But it was the only option China had for developing its productive forces quickly considering the circumstances with the USSR.

What you need to remember is that the USSR had already gone through a phase called the NEP in which they purposely allowed capitalists to operate for economic development.