I mean, it’s still a largely rural country

Not so. Wikipedia has a decent article but here's the crux of it:

By the end of 2023, China had an urbanization rate of 66.2% and is expected to reach 75-80% by 2035

The cities are massive and really densely populated. Shenzhen and Guangzhou are about 90 minutes apart by car if memory serves and account for about 35M people. Hong Kong is an hour south of Shenzhen by train and that's another ~8M.