As a (funded) foreigner in China I'd say it's really difficult for outsiders. However, if you are a so-called "haigui" (海龟) or overseas returnee Chinese, then obtaining funding and government support appears to be much easier. The whole HK thing hasn't helped.
I'm actually surprised to see funded foreigner in China. Basically it depends on how many connections you have, the more the easier. But I remember after the year 2016/2017 the funding starts to die down quite a bit comparing to previous years.