Conversely, I remember seeing a documentary which showed a massive room full of students in china, an absolutely massive hall, all taking some advanced exam. The stat was provided: China produces more Masters students per day, than the US produces humans!

Well, if that's the case, then meritocracy demands population replacement.

China is of course producing tons of great engineers, finance, mathematicians, science, etc. But China is also trying to provide good jobs for Chinese. A big reason I think China is seeing success is that on top of their education, they are then creating a pipeline for Chinese students to become workers. China doesn't want their people going overseas. They want them working, building industry, and developing technologies and skills locally.