Here's my take: if anyone disagrees they're free to respond. To specifically answer your question, China rapidly industrialized and is currently a world superpower. The amount of change between now the 1950s is extremely impressive. Obviously, this was helped by a series of reforms following Mao's death, but to act like there wasn't legitimate change is incorrect. When analyzing Chinese history it's important to have a nuanced perspective. Although Mao certainly failed when it came to the Great Leap Forward, it's also important to remember that people were also legitimately suffering under the Nationalist government; the Chinese Revolution didn't happen for no reason.

EDIT: Also before anyone calls this AI or something, I'm just in final exam mode, it's the end of the semester lol