China's rise to superpower
After joining the WTO, hosting the 2008 Olympics and overtaking Japan as the world's second-largest economy in 2010, China under Xi Jinping becomes a confident and assertive global power.
- Wealth and Power: China's Long March to the Twenty-First Century — Orville Schell and John Delury, Random House (2013)
- The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State — Elizabeth C. Economy, Oxford University Press (2018)
- Communiqué of the Seventh National Population Census — National Bureau of Statistics of China, National Bureau of Statistics of China (2021)
- OHCHR Assessment of Human Rights Concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China — Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations (2022)
China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, and exports surged. The 2008 Beijing Olympics, opened with a spectacular ceremony, were a national coming-out party, and in 2010 China overtook Japan as the world’s second-largest economy. High-speed rail, megacities, mobile payments and, more recently, electric vehicles and space missions became symbols of a modern nation.
- Wealth and Power: China's Long March to the Twenty-First Century — Orville Schell and John Delury, Random House (2013)
- China — Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica
Xi Jinping became Party leader in 2012. He launched a sweeping anti-corruption campaign, the Belt and Road Initiative of overseas infrastructure, and the slogan of the “Chinese Dream” of national rejuvenation. In 2018 presidential term limits were abolished, and in 2022 he began a third term as Party leader.
- The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State — Elizabeth C. Economy, Oxford University Press (2018)
- OHCHR Assessment of Human Rights Concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China — Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations (2022)
The 2020 census counted about 1.41 billion people. The population began to shrink in 2022, and India overtook China as the most populous country in 2023, a demographic turn that worries many families and planners.
- Communiqué of the Seventh National Population Census — National Bureau of Statistics of China, National Bureau of Statistics of China (2021)
- China — Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica
China is returning to its rightful place after an aberrant century of weakness, peacefully and through hard work. Western criticism often reflects a wish to contain China's rise.
- Wealth and Power: China's Long March to the Twenty-First Century — Orville Schell and John Delury, Random House (2013)
- Never Forget National Humiliation: Historical Memory in Chinese Politics and Foreign Relations — Zheng Wang, Columbia University Press (2012)
Under Xi Jinping, power has been concentrated, civil society and the internet tightly controlled, and repression in Xinjiang and Hong Kong intensified, while assertiveness in the South China Sea and toward Taiwan has alarmed neighbours.
- The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State — Elizabeth C. Economy, Oxford University Press (2018)
- OHCHR Assessment of Human Rights Concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China — Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations (2022)
Why it matters today
Many Chinese feel pride that their country is respected again and see the "great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" as the natural end of the century of humiliation. They also face a slowing economy, youth unemployment, an ageing population and tighter political control, and some resent being seen abroad only through the lens of rivalry.