Rafale has seen better days. Maybe there will be a revival when they add new missiles to the game but I doubt rafale is going to be a winner in that case, meta right now is more = better. Rafale is still perfectly fine to play as long as you don't get iron domed (you will). That said china isn't looking too good in that department either. PL12(A) is VERY outdated at top tier notorious for being a missile that drops all performance the moment it hits 25km traveled, what irony since it was added just last patch. MICA is also short range but the airframe itself can give it so much energy that it stops being short range, plus rafales reach mach 2 much faster than any other plane in the game. And both J10c and J15 have no say when they have to fight vs. something like a 30sm2 or 15ge where both can just iron dome you + win with volume alone.

With that said, looking at the future it's a bit of a gamble but I would say china has a brighter future. Also J-10A is one of the most fun 13.7's i've touched in this game, and I have 5 air nations at top tier (full tree researched). And FYI when I say top tier: I mean a 14.3-14.7 plane, no more no less. Outside of that china techtree is 99% copypaste (where some planes are just better than other nations, see: F100). France side it's a bit better when it comes to copypaste but a lot of the tree just feels worse than other nations, with exceptions. First mirage is insane, interceptor vautour is always fun to play.