There are other reasons but I'll just mention one which is I think the CPC handling COVID. Remember the Wuhan field hospital they built in less than a week! The CPC reaction was one where we could say "hey here is a government that actualy cares about you".

I am sure a lot of people thought that yeah the CPC is the real deal at least when it comes to being on the good side, or even mostly good.

Also China continues to make great social and economic progress while the west went into a new crisis.