“The Chinese Are Coming” was once the title of a BBC special aired in the early 2010s on the spread of Chinese culture and influence across the world. Specifically, the show discussed the impact of the Chinese diaspora on different communities, providing an in depth look at the spread of Chinese culture and language. Now, in 2025, some fifteen years later, a similar show could be made about the rise of China to political prominence. However, this time, a better title might be “The Chinese Have Arrived.” Indeed, China has now arrived on the world mainstage as a major political power, and with the United States government disintegrating into a dumpster fire led by a conglomerate of criminals, it will face little opposition as it rises to become the most powerful nation in the world.
China has achieved significant economic growth since the late 20th century, elevating to become the world’s second most prominent economy behind the United States. This growth trend is often referred to as “China’s economic miracle”. In fact, by the year 2035, it is forecasted by some analysts to surpass the United States altogether. As part of this, China has developed an economy based on both investment and manufacturing. During this time, the Chinese economy has also become increasingly export oriented, though experts believe that this strategy may have now reached its limit in terms of growth potential. In order to combat this, many believe China will now have to shift its strategy to emphasize different industries and economic principles moving forward (Overview, n.d.).
As part of maintaining its growth in the future, other issues to consider include managing demographic growth as well as the role of the Chinese government in business. Specifically, China will continue to have to work to maintain a successful balance between privatization and state-run business. The Chinese economy has always walked the line between socialism and capitalism, and continuing to do so in a way that maximizes the strengths of the Chinese economy while minimizing its weaknesses will likely play a major role in determining China’s growth prospects in the coming years (Overview, n.d).
As China has developed economically, it has also played an increasingly important role in international politics. Specifically, through diplomatic avenues like it’s Belt and Road Initiative, China has forged new alliances and partnerships with countries all across the globe (Jie & Wallace, 2022). Furthermore, in forming the BRICS alliance with Russia, Brazil, India and South Africa in 2006, China has developed solid partnerships with allied countries based on economic and diplomatic exchange. The BRICS alliance has grown in strength over the years and even surpassed the G7 alliance in terms of global GDP market share in 2024. The size of the group has also grown, with eight new partner countries being added (What is the BRICS, n.d.). In general, by forging new alliances and partnerships, China has continued to expand its influence to reach all across the world.
Apart from international agreements and alliance-building, representatives from China have increasingly been asked to comment on important world issues, like the ongoing crisis in the Middle East and climate change, among others. They are also increasingly being asked to take the lead themselves on these issues. For example, as one of the world’s largest carbon emissions producers, China’s shift to emphasize clean energy will be crucial in helping the world achieve its carbon emission reduction goals. Furthermore, with the United States now having withdrawn from the Paris Climate Agreement altogether, it can now be expected that China will have essentially the full leadership role on this crucial issue moving forward. Similarly, with Trump’s recent statements regarding Gaza representing a sharp deviation from both previous U.S policy and prescribed international policy in general, as well as China’s accompanying retort and reiteration of its support for a two-state solution, it seems likely the case that China will be asked to take the lead on this important world issue as well.
Militarily, China has also grown significantly. Specifically, China’s military spending now tops 296 billion dollars as of 2023, second only to the United States. The Chinese military is also the largest in the world, with twice the number of members as the U.S. Technologically speaking, the U.S still maintains an edge in certain key areas, especially in aviation. However, research shows that this advantage has also begun to erode. Furthermore, in other crucial fields like naval power and cyber capabilities, the two countries are almost deadlocked. In general, the U.S still maintains an advantage over China militarily, but with each year, this advantage is slowly disappearing (Mamchii, 2024).
Lastly, in terms of social issues, as mentioned previously, properly managing demographic issues will play a key role in facilitating China’s continued growth. Specifically, population growth remains a key issue moving forward. Following the abolishment of the one child policy in 2011, it was expected by many that China’s population would experience significant growth. However, if anything, population growth has declined since then. Combine this with a rapidly aging population and China is now confronting a labor crisis in several critical industries. The one child policy and other societal issues also contributed to the development of a gender imbalance in Chinese society, further exacerbating existing demographic challenges (Hart, 2021).
In general, we see that economically, diplomatically and militarily, China has been growing and expanding consistently over the years. Previously, many analysts had predicted that China would eventually surpass the U.S maybe some ten years or so down the line (Martin, 2024). However, with the self-inflected wound of Donald Trump’s reelection, the future of the U.S as the predominant world power seems more dubious than ever. It may yet take some time for the Chinese economy or military to fully catch up to its U.S counterpart, but, especially diplomatically, with Trump in the White House, China now has been thrust onto the world’s center stage. As the saying goes, “Never interrupt your enemy when he’s making a mistake”. Well, with the Trump administration withdrawing from international agreements, betraying allies and dismantling key organizations in rapid succession, Xi Jinping has certainly been doing a lot of waiting around recently. All that’s left for Xi and China to do is seize the moment and rise to the occasion once the appropriate time comes.
References:
Overview. World Bank. (n.d.). https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/china/overview
Council on Foreign Relations. (n.d.). What is the BRICS Group and why is it expanding?. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-brics-group-and-why-it-expanding
Jie, Y., & Wallace, J. (2022, December 19). What is China’s belt and road initiative (BRI)? https://www.chathamhouse.org/2021/09/what-chinas-belt-and-road-initiative-bri
Hart, B. (2024, January 31). How severe are China’s demographic challenges? ChinaPower Project. https://chinapower.csis.org/china-demographics-challenges/
Martin, N. (2024, July 15). Will china ever overtake the US economy?. dw.com. https://www.dw.com/en/will-china-ever-overtake-the-us-economy/a-69591117
Mamchii, O. (2024, December 11). USA vs China military strength comparison. Best Diplomats | Diplomatic Conferences | New York. https://bestdiplomats.org/usa-vs-china-military-power/
Heinrich, M. (2025, February 12). Brics vs. the G7. The Globalist. https://www.theglobalist.com/brics-brics-g7-economy-population-just-the-facts/