> It's incredible how closed off they seem to be in general
It's not surprising if you think about the difference between free speech and having censorship laws that limit peasants. I learned that when I first traveled around Asia.
Your ability to be creative is limited in China. People there can't make art that makes fun of Mao. They can't protest against local police corruption. They can't form groups that appear to be anti-government. For all of this you can be tossed in jail for a few days. Jail is demoralizing and disruptive.
If your contribution to society comes through speech that the government does not like, you'll be put down. You'll end up less willing to contribute to society than Americans who hate their bosses. Instead of a bad boss, it's a bad country leader, and that's much much harder to get out from under.
I suppose one day everyone in China could just decide to go to jail peacefully; that would be unmanageable for the government.. it could take a lot of noise to get that message out and there is some risk of violence. Police sometimes see themselves as judge and jury, and in China where speaking can be against the law, violence against peaceful protesters is not unheard of even in 2016.
Before I came to Asia I did not think much about free speech. If you asked me what made America great before I moved here, I'd have said it's complex. I wasn't even sure America is great.
Now I would say it's more simple: true democratic governments are not allowed to throw people in jail for speaking their minds.
The first step China can take towards sustainable economic growth, better research and education, is to prevent the government from imprisoning people for speaking their minds. You really need as many people thinking creatively and working hard as possible in order to be competitive. Society is about working together and digging out the best ideas. It's not about silencing people.
Until then, expect to see the most intelligent Chinese continue to leave to live elsewhere, pollution to rage further out of control, and free countries' companies to come and go from China. China's judicial system is worse than the free countries' for the same reason.