> but that was nothing compared to the extent of investment that was seen after the fall of Communism in Europe

Most of the capital investment and institution building that led to China Shock in the 2000s only happened due to the extreme degree of tech and capital transfer in the 1970s-80s, along with the visiting student program. Heck, Vietnam had a higher HDI [0] and GDP PPP per Capita [1] than the PRC until the early 2000s. The only difference was Vietnam was strictly in the Warsaw Bloc camp, and was negatively impacted by the collapse of the USSR, Czechoslovakia, and GDR while China was able to leverage ties with the US during that period.

[0] - https://countryeconomy.com/hdi?year=2005

[1] - https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.CD?end=2...