Having had international transits in PVG (and PEK) - in my experience they are better than international transits in USA.

I'm not sure the arrangements are due to government rules. Air NZ has special transit arrangements when connecting at PVG to/from LH/LX/VS (and maybe other airlines I'm forgetting). And international transit at CAN is a breeze, just a boarding pass and passport check (not full immigration) and through to departures level - no extra security check or long queues.