Egon Krenz, the last leader of the GDR, has gone on record saying he admires China's model, and that adopting reforms modeled after Deng Xiaoping's would have saved the country.
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201910/10/WS5d9e8ceda310cf3e3556f9c6.html
https://www.politico.eu/article/last-east-german-egon-krenz-communism-berlin-wall-anniversary/