The first thing to understand here was that there was a determination within the CCP that such a horror as the Cultural Revolution, the mob run amok at the whim of one man without any check, should never happen again. Many of the actions of the government of China, from Tienanmen Square to today's propaganda emphasis on social harmony, can be viewed through that lens. Older generations in China remain terrified of disorder in a way that it is rather hard for their contemporaries in the West, who viewed the 60s as a positive thing, to understand. This isn't necessarily an all-negative thing: they remain very wary of one-man charismatic rule, although the official onus for Maoist atrocities goes to the Gang of Four to this day.

Following the downfall of the Gang of Four, Hua Guofeng continued Maoist policies, complete with a Maoist style one person rule, but was in a relative short time sidelined by the far more talented Deng Xiaoping. It was around this time that the Chinese government decided to fully condemn the Cultural Revolution and focus on economic development rather than social struggle. The 11th Party Congress in the late 70s officially codified these changes, and with the 1982 alterations to the Constitution, the template to the current form of government in China was formed.

Much of the intent of Deng's changes in 1982 was to make de jure what everybody had already decided de facto-to prevent a Maoist cult of personality from forming ever again. It shows in the division of power throughout the government. It did take some time to shift to today's form-Deng Xiaoping would remain the unquestionable de facto, paramount leader during the 1980s in a way that Xi Jinping is not today, albeit as more of a Brezhnev-esque primer inter pares figure than an absolute dictator-but that's the definitive moment. There was little to no resistance to the changes, given the incentives abroad and at home for China to embark on the path it did.