Getting fined for mistakes is part of their aviation culture. Every single expat knows that when they come here. I don't remember anything allowing a 12k fine, however. But complaining about the fines? We are all volunteers.
Some of the other stuff, however, is not as advertised. Every couple of months the CAAC comes up with some new requirement, medical, or check ride. The latest a few months ago was an MRI, CT scan, and carodit aertery ultrasound. We lost one so far, and almost lost a couple more, and not everyone is complete.
Out of maybe 20 pilots or so that were at BCA, online, for more than a year, I can only think of 2 or 3 that didn't fail a medical, at least once.