Why did communism stay in China but not in the USSR?

Although The Peoples Republic of China states that it is a Communist nation, it has had a radical turn in its economic policies that Chinese communists of 25 years ago would not recognize as communist economics. Politically the nation has most of the trappings of a typical communist regime ( some terminology has changed ). It is the changes to a more market driven economy that move China from being a true communist nation.

As an example, China has a large stock exchange in Shanghai, and has allowed growth in what can be called the private sector. Its economy is now ranked second in the world.

Liberalization of both political and economic policies have contributed to the increase in China's standard of living.

By comparison, The Russian Federation, had been a communist state decades before China was. Even during the times prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union, Western style political and economic systems influenced Russia. Much more so than in China. Comparatively speaking, China remained more isolated than Russia. The closer ties to Europe and the mixed economies of Europe helped push the former Soviet Union towards a more prosperous political and economical system.

The term of "communism" became a negative in the minds of Russia's new leaders and in the view of the Russian people. Without prejudice, Russia was placed in a more progressive mode than China.

Russia disposed of communism as the decades from its 1917 revolution brought failures in central planning, and too many Russians were all to aware of it. China on the other hand, has had a more "captive audience" with its population and as of yet cannot come to the point of taking that final step away from its policies of central planning.

In addition to the factors mentioned above, the size of China's population may make it almost impossible to institute reformed political changes without a degree of chaos. In the view of many political scientists, liberalizing the communist government will take gradual steps.

As an aside, the current situation of Russia's foreign policies is not a factor in this comparison.