You have to agree communism is the goal, that's the party. Within that party are hundreds of factions that are all striving for votes so china gets to communism in the way they think is best. That's the democracy.
Its like if the US formalized an oath to continue being loyal to the US into a single party that you have to join in order to be in politics; and from there split into dem/rep parties. You'd still vote for factions and reps, but all of them would be required to at least have the same ending goal in mind.
It prevents people like trump from getting far, as keeping up appearances isn't really possible the longer you spend in the party.
There are of course downsides to this approach, but a lack of choice isn't really one of them; you just don't get to vote for the destruction of the government or country.
The lower tiers vote for the higher tiers, and anyone can join government.
As far as your concern, there's a reason the government in china actually works, vs the US that stagnates for decades.
Only actually qualified people have power. You prove yourself over years. Xi, for example, has a doctorate and decades of proven experience; and that was after winning his external elections.
to compare to to western democracy, you don't vote for prime minister, the people you voted for votes for prime minister. Just add a few layers with publicly auditable and contestable elections.