China also "blocks" people. Silicon Valley recruits the best from all over the world. China's gov't is not ready for that many "foreigners" tromping around; it goes against their controlling senses.
Openness of info and people is a key to SV, and one of the reasons SV fears Trump's curbs on imported experts. (The H-1B system is abused for rank-and-file workers, though. I agree with T on that one.)
The number of people I know who had to go to China because their business is manufacturing is astounding. None seem to have much trouble getting over there. There are "special economic zones" setup specifically to keep the mixing contained. Shenzhen is the most famous.
You can't setup your company outside the boundary and access to services is limited to that location. So while my understanding is you can drive where you want - your ability to stay there for long periods of time is limited. In addition you are required to register with the local police wherever you stay (hotels do this for you).
But whenever the gov't of a country has said, "We'll be the next X powerhouse!" and dumps money into it, it usually fails. The market tends to be a step or two ahead of gov't. In the late 80's Japan's gov't set out to make the country the king of high-def TV. When they finally had market-ready products, the world had moved on from analog to digital, making most of their R&D & patents obsolete. I suspect there will be (another) AI slump, and S.Valley will quickly move onto to something else. China will be left holding a bag nobody wants. The churn & burn of "cowboy capitalism" is bit too jumpy for their tastes.
The China model is actually pretty similar to the VC model, except with the government as the venture capitalist. I don't know whether it will work out for them or not, but one thing China has going for it is a higher level of pragmatism than most countries and the political power to make things happen.
Openness of info and people is a key to SV, and one of the reasons SV fears Trump's curbs on imported experts. (The H-1B system is abused for rank-and-file workers, though. I agree with T on that one.)