WELLINGTON - It does not seem that long ago when China was roaring ahead, set to throw down the gauntlet and usurp the United States as the world’s No. 1 superpower.

Indeed, it was only in July 2021 when the Communist Party of China (CPC) – helmed by President Xi Jinping – celebrated 100 years since its founding. The CPC had a glittering track record underpinned by decades of economic transformation that made the country the world’s factory, powered gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaging over 9 per cent a year since 1978, and lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty. Chinese tech titans sprawled across the globe, with Alibaba, TikTok and Xiaomi becoming household names.