It's been happening. The chinese government's even outlines these economic plans to the public. Export made up 35-40% of the chinese GDP in the the early half of the 2000s, then trended downward, now it's 25% of its economy.
Not hyperbolic, just stating a well established fact. And sure, standards of living was low, but so was Europe before industrialization. Yet even during the famed industrial revolution, the standards of living never grew as fast.
I agree with you that China's living standard/per capita income is 1/4-1/5th of the US, but it was 1/60th of the US 30 years ago. I also don't know why you like to point at US's higher per capita income, but at the same time ignore the fact US's per capita greenhouse gas production is 3x higher than China's.
I don't care for patriotism or flag waving, as they are not logical. Hence I don't care about buying American or Chinese, but what best suits my needs. I give credit where it is due, and while China still have a lot of developing to do, but it's not up for debate that they have planned and executed an amazing feat of economic development. A wise person would respect and plan ahead against an competitor of that caliber, rather than trying to belittle its achievements.