The Chinese had moveable type in 1045 A.D. They were making paper perhaps has early as 5 A.D., but certainly by 105 A.D. They invented Gunpowder in the eighth century. They were using magnetic compasses for marine navigation by the 11th century.
Say what you will about the Chinese, but they are not historically an ignorant or uninventive people.
No, but they were very slow at innovation compared to last millenium Europe, and they have never been rapid innovators. A good portion of the power of the West and particularly the US has been its ability to innovate at blinding speed. Things just don't move that fast in Chinese culture.
Gunpowder is a good example. The Chinese had it for the better part of a millenium before the Europeans imported it. Even though the Chinese knew how to make it, after all that time they still hadn't even come close to mastering practical applications of it and it served mostly as curiosity. When the English got their hands on it, they mastered the technology in a couple generations. Remember, one of the first exports of England to China was well-engineered and functional gunpowder weaponry, less than a hundred years after bringing gunpowder to Europe. For all the time they spent at it, the Chinese never came close to producing anything like what the Europeans figured how to make in a matter of decades.
The Chinese had a huge head start on the Europeans technologically, but innovated at a very slow rate. When the Europeans finally wandered out of their primitive dark ages, they brought with them a culture that could innovate and adopt technology at a startling rate. This ability allowed them to catch up to and surpass all the advanced cultures in the world very quickly technology-wise, despite their late start.
And what else?
American innovations and achievements can fill a room full of encyclopedias. The Chinese rockets couldn't get off the pad until Clinton gave them the know-how.
Chinese achievements wouldn't fill a small notebook. The reason why is because the people have been living under various dictatorships for a thousand years. A dictatorship does not create a setting for creativity. Need proof?
Look at the Chinese descendents working here in our country - creative, intelligent and innovative.
China will always be a second rate country until it throws off the dictatorship. A compass does not make a people special.