China's greatest capability is the productivity of people. That was true 50 years ago and it is true today. What's changed is degree to which China has advanced, by legal and illegal means, it's technical capabilities. Deng's strategy was to invite in the West so China could learn to modernize and it worked incredibly well. I think our current obsession with "competing" against China has more to do with China's current global leadership posturing than serious commercial competition.