Just to be completely clear, when we speak of China, do we mean exclusively Imperial China, or just China in general?
As EternalCynic mentions, right up until the Xinhai Revolution, China was rapidly modernizing and industrializing, however, if we mean any time before the Warlord era, then arguably, well, butterflying the descent into warlordism after the Xinhai Revolution is certainly far from impossible.
With regards to Imperial China specifically, now, it is important to remember that during the late 19th and early 20th century, anti-Manchu nationalism remained very much a central part of the ideology of the most well-educated, modernized, revolutionary, and even powerful classes of Chinese. Despite reforms undertaken by the Qing, overall, how long Imperial China survives, if indeed, it can survive, is quite a different question from whether China becomes a strong power in the 20th century.