In a way sure. Chinese plants may ignore US patents. Some of this narrative is just nationalist posturing for sure The Chinese building mentality is historically based in quantity. You got a fuck ton of people to feed, so you just produce, maybe epigenetic memories of famine.

This mentality can be reflected in tall buildings that are crumbling years after being built, cheap materials and just built blazing fast. Recent examples are the popup Covid hospitals.. sure they built a hospital but it won't last that long. Not to say this doesn't happen in the US, of course it does, but to a lesser degree.

Chinese manufacturing is trying hard to pivot to more technical and higher quality goods. This can be seen in the acquisitions in German companies and some US plants. Some see this as simply a move to acquire the IP themselves so it can be reverse engineered.. the reputation for Chinese quality will take some time, they are just monsters of output.

The whole question of innovation? Maybe in some ways not as innovative as western countries. I mean think about it, if something works just make that. No need to reinvent the wheel. Chinese manufacturing is really good at applying foreign techniques and integrating.