Political structure has nothing to do with the economics of the situation: one country has access two large markets, the other to only one. Which do you think will succeed in the long run economically?
Well, that helped, thanks for stating the obvious.
Neither is China
It's literally run by the CCP in an authoritarian regime (i.e. dictatorship).
if normal people can participate in government, is that still a dictatorship?
there is a standard way in which chinese people can become a government official if they choose to.
To answer your question: yes, and it has always been the case. Participation in government isn’t the same as consenting to or choosing who governs.
There is a standard way to join a street gang. That doesn't meant that the street gang rules the neighborhood according to a representative democracy, under which people have constitutional rights.