WHILE Chinese leader Xi Jinping claims to be constructing a 'great modern socialist country,' the Communist Party's recent 20th congress saw China regress in significant areas, including excluding women from top leadership positions, dropping non-supporters of Xi from key ruling bodies and concentrating power in Xi's hands.

Moreover, as Joerg Wuttke, president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, said in an online interview with The Market NZZ, 'Xi was not elected for five more years, but de facto for another 10 or 15 years.'