I think authoritarian fits better. They may be copying Soviet techniques which is a government that happened to espouse a communist economic philosophy, but in practice this has nothing to do with the economics and everything to do with exerting control. Fascists are just a different type of authoritarian regime.
It's also worth nuancing authoritarianism against totalitarianism, which captures states and ideologies that aren't satisfied with absolute political power, but want to control every aspect of its citizens lives.
This certainly encompasses the Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, Stalin-era Soviet, Mao-era China, and East Germany among others.
Contemporary China is undeniably authoritarian, and has totalitarian tendencies, but somewhat inconsistently. One can probably present a compelling argument both for and against their totalitarianism.