Well we should not judge the Chinese to hard, just look at the similarities between the European fighters with the Delta / Canard form. Most modern fighters are quite similar on the aerodynamic shapes.
But the Chinese have taken this copying to far, with the Su-27 and Su-33 copies which Russia and China even started argument about. And now the obvious F-22 copy.
They are smart, because it can cut a lot of costs to copy other designs, and instead spend the money on quantity - which the US could not handle in this economic situation with only 187 operational Raptors. So the Chinese created a cheaper copy. Compare it to the situation during WWII, where german tanks where superior, but the american ones where a lot more. The situation have now changed where it is the Chinese who mass produce military materiel.
So when the Chinese lack the technology on the aerodynamic / avionics they make the best of the situation to play with the big dogs. But I agree - it´s just painful to see a cheap and ugly copy of the F-22.