That dataset only has 52 countries for 1950. Their 2010 data has 219 countries. So "rank" isn't a very good way to analyze China's GDP growth over time.
A better way to look at that same data is that Chinese GDP per capita went from being 6% of the American value in 1950, to 16% of the American value in 2010. Relative to American growth, China has grown about 2.5x as much.
Seems like a better benchmark would be South Korea which also ended a civil war in 1953. It also had some rather unpleasant political upheaval and still had better Per capita GDP growth.
Alternatively, Taiwan makes an interesting case study as it’s the other side of that civil war and had much better Per capita growth while starting slightly higher.
The Middle East oil states had some truly ridiculous growth starting around 1950. South Korea ‘wins’ over a rather specific time period via sustained growth, but it’s growth rate is not that unusual when you start looking at industrialization and post war recovery.
While I don't dispute that South Korea had amazing growth, was it really faster than "every" other country? How does it compare to Japan? Or Australia?
Japan was a developed country with one of the strongest economy in the world before WWII. They showed a crazy rate of economical growth right after WWII, but I think it was more of a recovery rather than development.
Mostly faster than Japan or Australia, although the crown for highest GDP growth in a single year goes to Rwanda for growing 35% in 1995 after shrinking by 50% the year before.
A better way to look at that same data is that Chinese GDP per capita went from being 6% of the American value in 1950, to 16% of the American value in 2010. Relative to American growth, China has grown about 2.5x as much.