"Shenzhen was a small, sleepy fishing village, but then, because it was designated as a "special economic zone" it became a metropolis, overnight." From 300K to 10,000,000. Prior to 1980s, China was in a poor state, in stagnation. The leaders in Beijing were thinking "What can they do to lead the country out of poverty?" It turns out, they only had to deregulate. "...No cities in the history of human civilization was able to do this."
"Under the planned economy, food was rationed. It was only in Shenzhen that you can buy a piece of bread, with money."
So, there you have it. When government gets out of the way, civilization flourishes.
China is bootstrapping itself to a vastly more intelligent state than the USA. Whoever restores classical liberalism first will own the world's resources and wealth. With Chinese Austrian-Economists like Weiying Zhang being taken more and more seriously, it won't take long for China to prevail.