China main goal is to give a better living standard to its people, that mean at least a middle income level, which will easily propel China into number one country in term of GDP due to sheer population. I know some people think nation GDP doesn't matter, only GDP per capita matter. But I beg to differ. In foreigners' eyes, the welfare of each Chinese matter less to them, they only look at the strength of the nation as a whole. This is something that the US can't accept yet. The US was lucky when the US was replacing the UK as the dominant power in the world. There was WW1 and WW2 that significantly destroyed europe and weakened the brits. If not, the US would never have a peaceful transition of power and status from the brits.