The new romances law I consider to be more brutal than when crypto was completely banned in China. From what I understand from the new law is that you are allowed to hold crypto like bitcoin and others as private property, but you are not allowed to use them in any business transaction as it's forbidden, basically you are allowed to own it but not allowed to spend it.
I guess they are just trying to protect and promote there own technology and not giving in to what is taking over the world at large(Bitcoin). But then again, to what end? If citizens can own privately, why not have the ability to trade with it legally? Even though there government have a reason for this, I believe some Chinese wouldn't be too happy with the restrictions and will prefer a reverse.
The Chinese world is a different world, their government don't like sophisticated technology, they fear Bitcoin might be a tool against them and they don't know how to fight it that is why they are not officially lifting the ban. If they really want to uplift that ban, they would have done it officially and even the exchanges would have try to enter China market.
I don't think they will be lifting the ban anytime soon, or maybe even in the future. They recently made a statement claiming that Bitcoin still facilitates cybercrime. We all know that's not necessarily true, but it seems like they are trying to give themselves a reason not to allow the use of cryptocurrency in the country.As I always say, Bitcoin is money, and people can choose to use it for whatever they want. If a group of criminals decides to use Bitcoin to steal from their victims, that doesn't suddenly make Bitcoin an accessory to crime. Just like any other form of money, it can be used for both legitimate and illegal activities, even though that is not what it was created for.
In the midst of rising technical advancement, they should be able to try out new things and not give in to such fears of possible crime issues that may be related to a legal adaptation of Bitcoin I'm the country. Like you said, Bitcoin isn't crime and/or does not promote crime, so why fear. It is only fraudster citizens who find a way to defraud people. This does not only even happen with Bitcoin, it's everywhere, even with fiat currencies. So I don't see any reason for such fears. Of course, there always laws to handle criminals.