I apologize if I'm misinterpreting you, but do you honestly believe that China is a more attractive location to a young ambitious scientist than the US? Or is this some sort of a joke that I'm not getting?

China is becoming a very attractive location for the sciences: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00084-7

No joke at all.

Fair enough. Many might consider things other than just the level of funding when choosing where to take up residence and do research.

From a culture and language viewpoint, most Russian scientists would find it much easier to adjust to your average Western country than to China. Plus, Western countries generally have much more experience at integrating immigrants than China does, which suggests they are likely to do a better job at it than China.