It helped that China could throw essentially an unlimited budget and unlimited workforce at the job.

It ended up incredibly over budget and the various state owned corporations have had to be bailed out.

On the other hand, China now has a rail industry that allows them to sell around the world.

So the ROI over time is probably good. China can invest for the long term.

As Deng said, when asked about the French Revolution being good or bad, "Too early to tell."