Although China's growth rate is high, it still lags behind the US. This may be because the US is the economic quarterback. China is making rapid progress in many areas such as artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, chips, but it is more dependent on imports than the US in many areas. This makes them more vulnerable.

For China to become a global leader, economic size alone is not enough. The US's liberal democracy provided a model for many countries in the post Cold War era. China's authoritarian capitalism, on the other hand, is not one that many countries want to emulate. In terms of cultural imposition, China is far behind the US. Moreover, the US has very strong global alliances and China has no such advantage. China has the potential to overtake the US, but it faces many structural obstacles.