You're out of date. Used to be freer than most communist states, but Xi went for that third term, the real estate binge is crashing, Hong Kong is no longer free, and he's making noises about Taiwan and the Nine Dash Line to distract the public from domestic problems. It's not nearly as free as it used to be, and the real estate bust and navy buildup are soaking up a lot of money.
Someone published a book a few years back about the difference between territorial nations and naval nations, although I forget his exact terms. Point is that territorial nations need armies to defend borders, such as Germany, eastern European countries, Russia. Armies are very hierarchical, very much top-down command structure, because that's what you need to coordinate armies. Naval nations don't need to defend borders nearly as much, so they develop merchant trading networks and navies to defend them. Navies even now, with satellite communications, are more independent than armies, and they and merchant traders foster independence.
There are hybrids, and two that come to mind are France and China. Both absolutely need armies, although the EU has made France's need less. But China absolutely has a lot of borders to defend from Russia, Mongolia, Afghanistan, India, Vietnam, and while it does depend on trade, that is not the existential threat of land invasion.
Every war France was in with England, the army came first. The navy never got enough money to practice and drill, and lost more battles than they won. China had that explorer who got as far as Africa, but then land threats distracted them and the ocean-going fleets were disbanded and forbidden.
China's army-navy problem is the same now. If they do get involved in any kind of naval dustup, it will embolden their territorial neighbors, and the navy will be cut back. Attacking Taiwan, for instance, takes a navy to do the invasion, but then needs an army to sustain it and maintain the occupation, and that will draw down army resources elsewhere. Trying to build up islands in the South China Sea has pissed off everyone in the area and they have lost a lot of good will which will take decades to restore; if they get bogged down anywhere else, they will lose their tenuous grip on the Nine Dash Line.
Xi isn't stupid, but dictators surround themselves with Yes men, and Xi has too. His instincts are to crack down, just as with the Uighurs, with Hong Kong, with the Nine Dash Line, with Taiwan. He won't have the patience to tolerate any domestic problems.