China is the largest trading nation in the world and was the fastest growing economy for 30 years until 2015. Like Rome, China wasn’t built in a day. It took the sweat, toil and blood of its citizens – from the failures of a Maoist Cultural Revolution to the widescale economic reforms of Deng Xiaoping – to raise the country to where it stands today.

Politics has a nasty habit of surprising us – especially in a country like China, where there is little transparency and a lot of intrigue. Five months ago, President Xi Jinping jolted his countrymen by abolishing the presidential term limit and signalling his intention to serve for life.