Once upon a time right after WW II there used to be 2 super powers. The US and Soviet Union. There was no economic engagement between the two, the two had their own economic sphere, one the "free world", the other "the iron curtain" or the "Warsaw pact" country.
The US engaged with China after Sino-soviet split since 1979, and that helped bringing down the Soviet Union in another decade.
As a communist country the Chinese were not stuck with ideology, they adapted to free market and engaged with global market place and quickly became a rising economy.
From the US stand point, I consider this approach a huge blunder, because the US was in a way helping to bring up its own competitor in world stage and setting itself up for a future conflict. Some lone professors complained about this:
John Mearsheimer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stephen Walt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
One of the biggest confusion was that US helped war torn Europe to rebuild, same with Japan and both became US allies. The hope was that China would also become an ally.
I think they forgot to consider the size of Chinese population. Unlike EU countries and Japan, China was more than 4 times the population of the US. Why this blunder, my conclusion is that its because of inherent eurocentric supremacism that is present in all their academic and strategic discourse, except for a few brilliant people with foresight, 2 of whom I mentioned above.
The US also spent a decade on a futile wild goose chase, the GWOT, which in effect was war on Muslims, and wasted blood and treasure (5-6 trillion) and the result was reduced credibility in world stage and the impression of a bungling and fading super power. Finally in last few years, suddenly they wake up to the fact that China is rising too fast and they declare a pivot to Asia.
What I would like to say to US strategists is that it is much too little and too late, the train has already left the station so to speak.
Does China have anything to learn from this? I think it is related to India. India as an impoverished and aspiring power is seeking investment from cash rich nations - China and GCC for example. They know investment in infrastructure is vital for their rise. But what will happen after their rise. And they are projected to be a bigger population than China, 1.6 billion by 2050, whereas China will remain at 1.3 billion. Once India have risen sufficiently just like China is today confronting the US because of clashing interest, India will do the same with China. For now they will lie low and do anything to secure investment in their infrastructure and economy.
A better policy for the US would have been to strategically trade with nations that would not challenge their hegemony, but its too late for that now, they already missed the boat. For China, it still has time to learn from this. India will never ally with China in the long run, they have dreams of becoming the top dawg of the whole world and even beat China at the end and they may very well do it, unless China is careful and builds a strong alliance based on SCO and create an integrated economy in Asia that can easily counter the Indian threat.
Being from South Asia, I will tell you guys one thing, no one understands Indians more than fellow South Asians. Take it from us, they can beat China,.Japan, the US, EU and then some, if they can rise and acquire technology. They may lack in performance, but they make up for it with deception and cunning, which many of you guys lack.
Japan for now will not cooperate. But China should be able to woo South Korea, with some active help on unification. With China and South Korea as a new core, Asia can build an integrated economy and security structure based on SCO for 3 billion people. India should be left out of this security structure and Japan can join it when they are ready to give up the US as their protector. Japan because of its size will never be a threat like India for China. So I would recommend China to invest their hard earned money in all the world, except in India, as it will come back to bite your behind. Let India secure it from where ever they want, except China.