The current issue of The Economist has a picture of Xi on the cover with the caption “The Most Powerful Man in the World”. When I saw it I flashed back to all the magazine covers in the 1980’s that featured Mikhail Gorbachev.
Average Chinese see him as a decent man who is cracking down on corruption and trying to bring them a better life.
The problem is that Xi is term limited and no guarantee his successors will continue down the same path.
He doesn’t want to be Gorbachev and he would like the Chinese Communist Party to avoid the fate that befell the Soviet party.
The Chinese nomenklatura share a dedication to keeping their power and ensuring economic growth and social stability. But on future reforms there are no doubt differences of view.
A peaceful transition to democracy is probably going to take at least a generation though it could happen sooner if an unforeseen regime crisis should erupt.