Societies where the elites are only interested in stealing everything they can take look like Nigeria (or Mississippi): a tiny sliver of people living in luxury while the rest of the population lives in permanent, abject, squalor.
In contrast, median living standards in China have improved dramatically in living memory. In many cases, the transformation has literally been from mud huts to skyscrapers. The kind of wealth distribution that supported this transformation would not have been possible if China's elites were only interested in self enrichment; if they were, they would have taken the wealth for themselves.
Obviously, China's human rights policies have no redeeming qualities, but its economic policies have benefited the average Chinese citizen. Credit where it's due.