As an autocracy, the Chinese government reacted swiftly to the Great Recession with a series of bold economic policies that they could institute without having to negotiate with multiple parties. As a result, China’s real GDP grew by 9% in 2009 while global GDP shrunk.

China's Response to the Great Recession

Autocracies are not beholden to public pressures the way that democracies are, and are therefore less likely to cave to populist demands. Whereas democracies might feel pressured to implement popular policies that are not good for economic growth, autocracies have no such disadvantage. Furthermore, autocracies can act swiftly without checks on their power. 

Wesleyan University

The literature on regime type and economic crisis management generally finds that democracies are more resilient than autocracies in the face of economic shocks and crises. 

Regime Type and Economic Crises

Essers, D. (2012). Democracy and external shock resilience in developing countries: Evidence from the Great Recession (No. 2012.02). University of Antwerp, Institute of Development Policy (IOB).

Essers (2012)

The more veto players in a given political system, the more credibility that a government gains. If a policy has resulted from complex negotiations, then citizens can have more confidence that the government will actually stick to its economic policies, inducing citizens and markets to cooperate with the government. Furthermore, an executive with many checks on their power is inhibited in making rash economic decisions that may upend the market, whereas autocracies have no such constraints.

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