| More specifically they worship the state.

That's arguable. I don't think that many people 'on the ground' in China actually worship the state. On the other hand, many people in Muslim theocracies actually worship Allah, even if they don't agree with every aspect of the government.

The government didn't replace religion, but they do control it. There's an PRC sanctioned sect of Christianity. Buddhist monks in Tibet need to be registered Communist party members.

  | it's questionable how much of that style
  | of Communism still exists in China

It's questionable how much Marxism actually existed from the beginning. I don't think that Marx envisioned famines starving the poor in his "worker's paradise."