www.abc.net.au By Annika Burgess and Jason FangÂ
Last year, there was rarely a week when international attention wasn’t on China.
Disappearing celebrities, billionaire crackdowns, the Evergrande fiasco, hypersonic missile tests, Hong Kong activist arrests, trade wars, climate goals, COVID.
This was hardly a coincidence.
When President Xi Jinping came into power in 2012, he set out to make his agenda widely known â both domestically and internationally.
Unlike his predecessor Hu Jintao â a man of mystery who carried the stereotype of being dull and wooden â Mr Xi has fiercely asserted himself on the world stage.
While at home, he has strategically consolidated power, and enforced sweeping structural reforms in Chinese economy and society that have transformed the country at warp speed…
