What kind of government reform existed in China in the 17th and 18th centuries?

I think that the correct answer would be the option – despotism.

The Chinese Empire of the Qin Dynasty possessed many of the characteristics of traditional Chinese autocracy – all power is concentrated in the hands of the monarch, it relies on a huge and structured bureaucratic apparatus as well as a huge army. The Emperor is revered as an incarnate deity and “Viceroy of Heaven in the Celestial Empire.” All these features are characteristic of the Eastern Despots. The Chinese differed from the absolute monarchy of the Europeans by their direct deification of the ruler (which is typical for Christians in this form) and greater fragmentation.