China doesn't have a strong internal economy. They probably have a lot of saving that might be able to be translated into an internal economy, but they seem to have a cultural leaning towards frugalness: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/business/china-economy-co...
China has a massive energy & manufacturing base, which can easily translate into military power, but until they decide to transform into a war economy, they need trading partners to keep their citizens employed, which is already a struggle for their young adults who I guess don't want to work in factories.
That frugality is likely temporary. The Greatest Generation were frugal due to lessons learned during the Great Depression. That frugality was lost in a few decades. The corresponding event in China was the cultural revolution, but poverty lasted past that. It's been a few decades, and now the Chinese are famous for their love of luxury status products.
China has a massive energy & manufacturing base, which can easily translate into military power, but until they decide to transform into a war economy, they need trading partners to keep their citizens employed, which is already a struggle for their young adults who I guess don't want to work in factories.