I am not educated in the China. But I am still doubtful. Deng basically created state capitalism. Was a revisionist. And even Mao called him a capitalist roader. I know with his capitalist reforms he lifted a lot of people out of poverty, and rich people in China are under strict state control. But does China owe its development to Deng? Would it be just as developed if it didnt do such reforms? Does it justify Deng’s revisionism? What do Chinese Maoists think about Deng? I know Lenin’s NEP also allowed free market, but only for a limited time.
Deng wasn’t even kicked out of the Party, just removed from leadership. Reading Jude Woodward’s book The US vs China: Asia’s New Cold War really helped me appreciate Deng’s vision for building up a stable China.
Regarding allowing monopolies to form, that has been a strategy by MLs since Lenin’s time to allow a company to rise to the level of a monopoly and then nationalize it. In China the critical infrastructure monopolies are still state-owned enterprises so capitalists can’t control the government. Juxtaposed to countries like the US where PG&E can burn California through neglect and merely get a slap on the wrist.