There is/was probably truth in that, but the "China is just copying superior foreign tech and science" narrative is long gone now. China does cutting-edge research and does publish plenty of high-impact papers.

This narrative helps some people cling to their feeling of historical superiority, but it'd be better to face reality and embrace the fact that a very well-funded machine is advancing some fields in science much more efficiently than other countries are currently able to.

(these are general statements, I have no idea about your personal beliefs, other than you like yourself some meat~~)

EDIT: There is plenty of bulk-publishing of low-quality research going on, for sure. But that does not negate the quality stuff they do.