President Xi Jinping on a visit to Guangdong province on April 10. China has hosted scores of foreign business leaders since lifting its strict Covid measures. Photo: Ju Peng, Li Xueren, Yan Yan, Liu Bin/Xinhua

China has clearly started playing a larger leadership role in the world.

This year, China has embarked upon meetings with a range of leaders from numerous countries in Asia Pacific, the Americas and Europe; it helped broker a deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to reestablish diplomatic relations; and has pushed for a political settlement for the war in Ukraine.