On the contrary, you cannot lead without copying advances others make in their quest to catch up with you, or you'll be stuck having to rediscover everything yourself. Of course you cannot lead without any advances of your own either, but successfully copying what's known to work is already half the battle.

I didn't say China didn't steal/copy. The US sent spies to Great Britain to try to steal their cotton machine designs during the industrial revolution. Europe copied China's paper making, book printing, gun powder, noodles, compass.

Such is the cycle of civilization.

Once advanced enough, China will have its own problem of other nations stealing their tech.

You said "China can't copy and lead at the same time." I'm saying leaders always have to be copying, or they don't stay leaders for long. Market leaders won't hesitate to copy (not "steal") the work of overall less advanced companies if they can benefit from it somehow.