As one Western commentator had it: If China destroys itself faster than we destroy ourselves then we win, right?
China appears to be running out of effluent sinks before it runs out of resources. Or maybe it's just the Limits to Growth prediction playing out that if the resource limits don't get you, the pollution will.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/08/31/1417071/-Much-of-China-Is-Now-An-Unrepairable-Ecological-Disaster
And yes, I do understand that The Daily Kos spun the story as a critique of unfettered US-style capitalism. But the real story is about China, not about the USA.
http://www.paecon.net/PAEReview/issue71/Smith71.pdf
That's the lesson for USA. Beware.
And yes, the true story, a very sad one, is of China. I was simply commenting and extrapolating, as you do :-)