Instead they have huge manufacturing capacity sitting on top of a completely busted financial system. Look at the returns of Chinese equities vs GDP growth the last 20 years. It is completely absurd.
The financial system is imploding right now, trying to find a place to hide https://tradingeconomics.com/china/government-bond-yield
The equity market is just one place where companies can go to receive investment. In China this is a small part of total investment pool. So, no surprise that these equities don't go as fast as the rest of the economy, there is a lot of competition. In the US this is the reverse because traded companies are allowed to swallow more and more of the real economy.
Another phrase for money leaving the country without goods coming in?
I am not Chinese but I still find this comment hilariously offensive and tone-deaf. I can say almost without a doubt that the US has a "tremendous" issue with cult-of-personality right now. But I don't see Chinese or other countries attacking or trying to "contain" this.
The US is still treated as a nation, unified in its people and leaders, by even its adversaries. But when Americans deal with other countries, there is a tendency to say things to the effect of: "the people are fine, it is the X that must be suppressed", ignoring that this X is inherently or directly connected to people of this nation.