I am interested in both ideological and pragmatic reasons. I've heard from a few sources that Marxist-Leninism wasn't "supposed to work" in a country like China that was still so agrarian... is that accurate? And why?
Whilst more can be said, especially regarding the importance of Maoism as a form of "socialism with Chinese characteristics", this older two-part response I did on both the ideological, geopolitical, and pragmatic reasons of the Sino-Soviet Split may be of interest to you.