I'm a Canadian who has moved to China. One of the reasons I decided to move here was that everyday life feels more "free" in China (as long as you don't get involved in politics). However, I would never argue that the Chinese government is more transparent than any Western government and when it comes to political freedom/freedom of press, there is no comparison possible.
On the other hand, I'd say that life in China is in many ways more compatible with libertarian values then Canada/US. If you are socialist/communist leaning, you probably won't like China.
If the Chinese can gain supremacy of world affairs while paying people more than Americans pay you will see the same flow from America to China.
Certainly at this point in time by most objective measures America is more free, but it is heading in a direction of less free as China heads in a direction of more free. I believe that both trajectories will accelerate in the coming years for purely economic reasons, as America's fiscal position declines it will head towards more restrictive policies while the fiscal boon to China's populace causes more liberal policies to be explored.
Like most organizations the Communist Party in China is more interested in preserving itself than whether a particular policy may be ideologically pure communism.
I mean, they shouldn't be able to tell the difference in styles of government, am I right?