One thing I saw forecast the Chinese economy twice the size of the USs by 2050, and that was before the crash. (India btw 'will' be the same size as us by then)
China: Trillions in hard cash on hand
USA/The West: Trillions in debt
China: Eight Hundred Kazillion people doubling every 5 minutes
USA/The West: 1.2 billion? Give of take some Hispanic/Middle Eastern folks
They're starting to do their own engineering too. All they have to do is bide their time and not screw anything up.
Pete