Not even exactly that - r&d basically always has huge returns for decades or even centuries.

It's just investing, not prioritising short-term profits ... and not having a system where the economy collapses if profits fall, not even necessarily into negative territories. They just need/want infrastructure, so they build it to have it (and profit from externalities of having said infrastructure, not building in some sort of direct profitability features). They want clan air, they pass laws & directives.

It's not black or white, but def the shade contrasts with western world.

I don't like the authoritarianism, but I kinda like China's approach to reorient the economy depending on the needs. Too much economic growth at the expense of public investment, and they will reorient towards more public services and vice versa. This sounds similar to Keynesian economics and I am an old school proponent of Keynesianism.