It's easy to trust the government when your economy is growing in leaps and bounds and everyone is happy.

Frankly, I think China could rival the US for world's largest economy if it wasn't for the CCP. China was always expected to be an economic superpower since 1945 which is why they were granted one of only five permanent seats on the UN Security Council. It was the CCP's need for power that caused China to defy all expectations and plunge themselves into a 3rd world country for 50 years.

The success of their own people is a threat to an authoritarian government so their economic success has a limit, and it looks like they've already hit that limit.