I've won plenty of games USING China in under 10 minutes. It is a verry good rusher, if you know what you are doing. I spent a year perfecting my rush with them, and I have never lost because of a rush in a 1v1 or team game using them. The trick is to get the war camp up (I can have it completed by about 2:30 gametime) before enemies come. 2:30 is plenty of time for it, and even 3:00 is normally enough (depending on the map size and how close you are to the enemy). If you have it up in time, all that matters is getting the counter units and you have beat the rush. After you beat the rush, send the war camp (and all units) into the enemy base and kill them before they can start pumping out to many units.
China is not hopeless, but a great civilization that is a TON of fun to play, especially if you win at the rush because NOBODY expects to get rushed by China!
"It seems to me the humour of Sails is so dry you could strike a match on it and it would be the humour that caught fire." - Friend of Old