The Chinese were famously intent on developing trade, and according to one (very debatable) suggestion they discovered America before the Europeans did.

But they got so far - and then they stopped. In theory there's no reason why they couldn't have begun trading with Europe - the potential for trade was certainly there, and the routes were already available.

If they had established trade routes, they would inevitably have been involved in the American adventure, one way or another.

So possibly the question is really - was there something in the physical environment that turned the Europeans into aggressive explorers, and the Chinese into isolationist stay-at-homes?

Europe could easily have chosen not to explore at all. Nominally the driver was access to spices, but it seems like a lot of effort to go to to put some nutmeg and saffron on the king's table.