Interesting. Ponzi schemes can last awhile but will always bust. It's a question of when, not if.
I have seen the Chinese in a number of countries. They are an industrious people and are in every country in the world. Known as merchants, they for the most part populate as small mom and pop businesses.
Large businesses like what's happened during the past several decades in China must be a different role for the majority of them as I believe their affinity is as sole proprietors. The Chinese do not have a history like this country of creating successful large businesses as entrepeneurs. Instead, under the auspices of the state, they seek areas of taking advantage of other's business and manufacturing successes.
There is definitely more than meets the eye when one considers China's economy, dominated by the state puppetstrings.