Long before the Covid-19 outbreak hit China and spread to the rest of the world, Xi Jinping,

standing on a podium at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, heralded the dawn of a “new

era” for the Chinese nation that “has stood up, grown rich and become strong, and…now

embraces the brilliant prospects of rejuvenation.” This new era, Xi declared, will “see China

moving closer to center stage and making greater contributions to mankind.”1

The extent to which the Covid-19 pandemic has affected global trends and national trajectories

cannot yet be fully appreciated. Conjectures abound, with prophesies of a total upending of the

world order at one end of the spectrum and forecasts of a steady acceleration of pre-pandemic

trends at the other. As we publish this report, the aftereffects of the pandemic on the global

economy, and on China’s economic growth in particular, are still unclear. How it will affect China’s

geopolitical calculations and global ambitions is also difficult to tell. But the Chinese leadership

has given indications of its determination to keep moving forward. Having proclaimed a new era

of strength and power for China, it would be difficult for the secretary general of the Chinese

Communist Party (CCP) to revert to a low-key posture. Foreign Minister Wang Yi observed, for

example, in April 2020: “Human history is a story of mankind wrestling with various diseases

and disasters, always emerging stronger and more resilient. Unequivocally, Covid-19 cannot arrest

the Chinese people’s determined march toward national rejuvenation.”2 In his assessment of the

impact of the pandemic on China’s “centenary goals,” Yuan Peng, the president of China Institutes

of Contemporary International Relations, contends that China’s “strategic deployment is unrolling

methodically,” even though the uncertain and unstable international environment makes it more

difficult for the country to seize opportunities.3