China achieved this at the cost of rising income inequality, though. Entirely part of Deng Xiaoping's plan ("some regions get rich quicker than others"), but if left unchecked it would've been pretty disastrous. Fortunately, recent years have seen a reversal in this policy and it's the less rich regions that are growing more quickly now.
Don't you shit on cooks. Cooks are the lifeblood of any large organized group.