China is at a crossroads like plenty of other countries that hit a similar point in their developmental cycle.

The Eastern Bloc in the 1980s-1990s; Thailand, South Korea, Mexico, and Malaysia in the 1990s-2000s; and Turkey, Brazil, Venezuela, and Russia in the 2010s all hit a similar hurdle when low hanging fruit reforms were done, and systemic reforms were needed.

Some, like South Korea and Poland, did those reforms and reshaped their entire economies.

Others like Malaysia, Hungary, and Turkey did some piecemeal reform but never any systemic ones.

And others like Mexico, Russia, and Brazil basically stood still and lagged behind.

China's trajectory for the rest of the 21st century will be decided by the choices policymakers in China will make this decade.

Also, people should NOT feel schadenfreude about the current slowdown of the Chinese economy - similar slowdowns in Russia, Turkey, etc lead to a much more aggressive foreign stance adding fuel to conflicts in the Caucasus, Ukraine, Syria, South Asia, Sahel, and the Maghreb.