If china wins the tech race how would a future in which the first world losses it’s technological advantage yet is still better of look like?

This topic prone to speculation unfounded in economics, which is not appropriate for this sub.

A historical comparison that might be useful is Western Europe. Europe was on the periphery of the past several technology cycles (the post-war oil boom, mainframe computing, then the internet and social media). They were followers in adopting technologies largely developed elsewhere, combining imports with homegrown competitors.

They’re still wealthy societies and doing just fine.