Actually, given the "economic colonies" the Chinese are prestently establishing in South America and Africa, I can see precisely why they think they have a need for aircraft carriers to project power. It's not to compete with the USA, but to protect those raw material sources from encroachment or piracy.
You’re right. Didn’t think of it that way.
The IJN had flattops during WWII, and in the early stages of the PTO, IJN pilots in A6M Zeroes trumped over Allied pilots in their land-based aircraft.
By the end of the decade, we would expect to see a few flattops with PLAN pilots flying Chinese built Su-33 Flanker-D knockoffs.
AV-MF Su-33 Sea Flankers.