This isn't about money or protectionism. This is about information control. The government states what they wish the truth were as if it were true. This is not believable if there is other evidence, or even a broad discussion. Hence, viewpoints contrary to the government's "truth" must be stamped out.

Apparently Xi's predecessors did not think this was as important, but Xi seems to be old-school.

I do not think this is a good idea for China or the government. It seems like the government only has one solution for a problem: more control. More control is like pressurizing a container. The more pressure you put, the bigger the explosion when the container eventually ruptures. I don't think this is in the interest of anyone in China, so I hope they rethink things before the pressure gets too high.