Abstract. China’s ability to regulate and control the situation in the ideological sphere has increased markedly during the recent decade. At the same time, Chinese society is becoming more and more diverse, which makes social thought more and more heterogeneous. The article focuses on the changes that have taken place in relations between the ideology of CPC and non-official trends of thought. Through publications of Chinese researchers the article analyzes the key aspects of the CPC policy aimed at strengthening the leadership of the official ideology and preventing radicalization of public sentiment. In China experts are especially concerned about the ability of non-mainstream ideas to challenge the “national ideological security”. The increase in the influence of official ideology led to weakening of neo-liberalism, universal values, and historical nihilism. However, the mode of interaction between the official ideology of the CPC and other ideological currents cannot be reduced to confrontation between “Chinese authoritarianism” and “Western liberalism”. The full picture can be seen only by taking into account the complex relationship of Party ideology with the diverse ideas of the “gray” zone. Intense debates in China are focused on trends that have no clear theoretical basis and political orientation, but are capable to mobilize masses and radicalize public sentiment. The authorities search for optimal response to outbursts of radical Internet-populism while seeking to put nationalism and consumerism into reasonable limits. The reaction of Chinese society to the coronavirus epidemic has demonstrated that at a time of crisis and decrease in people’s confidence in the effectiveness of the work of the state there was an explosive growth of pro-Western and populist sentiments. The task of combining the leading role of the normative ideology of the CPC with the diversity of social ideas will remain relevant over a long time.