We need to do better but I'm pretty certain we are not being competitively challenged by China's Hukou system & as for infrastructure and local government investing in crazy growth schemes it is pretty rampant in the US as well.
Most infrastructure is privatized in the US, with roads being a notable exception. Infrastructure investment doesn't mean a lot when that investment is to a for-profit company in which their only means of profit is new infrastructure. The most expensive (and therefore profitable) type of infrastructure with the lowest maintenance cost use fossil fuels.