They’re not scrapping a superior engine architecture just because it missed a delivery date late into its product introduction process. It’s not like China has no more need for better engines in the future. The new architecture is going to serve as a foundation for derivative designs and will still offer much higher potential growth margins than the WS-10 going into the future. J-20 production is only at the start of a massive production ramp up as well so it’s not like a year delay will mean marginal number of airframes for the engine to be used with. The sizable majority of J-20 that will exist have not yet been produced. Adopting a new WS-10 iteration as an interim solution for the J-20A and J-20S also doesn’t necessarily mean major long term commitment to it. The LRIP J-20s all used AL-31 variants and that was only fitted for maybe 50-80 airframes.
EDIT: Also the new WS-10 variant could probably be used as a midlife upgrade option for J-20s that use WS-10C.
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