"now that it has proven to be largely a failure with half a billion Chinese living in poverty"

What?

China has risen to superpower status, and become one of the biggest economies in the world in the space of a generation.

Are they as rich as the US per capita? No, but they're on the right trajectory, and getting there quicker than most other nations did.

Don't forget nearly all these city dwellers are first generation, if they don't remember living in a wood hut, without electricity, running water or toilet, their parents do.