I think if we look at overall capabilities, France, the UK, Germany, the US, and Russia should all be ahead of China at the current moment, *but* there's also a lot of tech and knowledge sharing going on between France, the UK, Germany, and the US, which China is deliberately (though partially) being excluded from. Japan in theory *should* be able to match these countries in capability, in part because they would also be beneficiaries of the knowledge and tech sharing between the US, UK, France, and Germany, but they have never touched a fully indigenous design from concept to production in the contemporary era, so I think placing them so definitively would be more than a bit hasty.
In this context, I think it's impressive to note what China has been able to do accomplish. Despite operating under conditions where access to the most up to date knowledge and technology has been largely denied to them, they have still been able to advance this far and fast. Even when we factor in the role espionage and foreign assistance has played to help China get to where it is, what they have been able to accomplish in this field of technology given the circumstances they have had to deal with is quite noteworthy. Regardless of where they are today, this *should* bode well for the future of China's aerospace engine industry, presuming that the effort can be consistently and competently maintained.
