This makes absolutely no sense given how everybody in China knows that western countries are richer. China is not North Korea, there is no information blackout.

This makes absolutely no sense given how everybody in China knows that western countries are richer. China is not North Korea, there is no information blackout. The average Chinese knows a lot more about, say, the US than the average American about China. Chinese policies are meant to solve Chinese problems (whether they are successful is a different discussion). The government is in the business of producing results, ideology is secondary.