The reality is that Chinese culture, particularly under Communism, is one of suppressed creativity. This will kill them in the their quest for world dominance. That said, a lot of Chinese and a lot of people around the world may suffer before this happens. But it will happen.
I like the term you used of “suppressed creativity’. Although China’s good at smoke an mirrors as well as we see in N.Korea so often.
That term would say it well for the Uighur population in Western China. They have pretty much suppressed any possibility of them rising up.....getting them to open their homes for foreigners and focus the area into a tourist attraction is a good example ‘suppressed creativity’... Then they’ve heavily policed the area as well.