President Xi Jinping first spoke of “profound changes unseen in a century” reshaping the world during a meeting in late 2017 with senior Chinese diplomats and envoys.
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Over the years since then it has been dismissed by many as rhetoric. But several Chinese experts and policy analysts have recently said that Donald Trump’s turbulent return to power seems to have bolstered Beijing’s prophecy, signalling a seismic global reordering where American influence wanes and new powers rise.
“In the past, we didn’t fully grasp its weight,” a government-affiliated think tank expert said. “But this year, it truly feels like the world is undergoing a profound shift – like a ‘once-in-a-century transformation’ unfolding, with America under Trump tripping over its own feet.
“No one knows what the [US-China] rivalry’s outcome will be, with policies evolving rapidly, leaving the world on the cusp of unpredictable change.”
Xi and other Chinese leaders have repeatedly invoked the concept – widely seen as reflecting Beijing’s world view of a US in terminal decline and China’s ascendance, though they seldom express this explicitly in public.
A notable exception occurred during Xi’s visit to Moscow in March 2023, when he told his “dear friend” Russian President Vladimir Putin, “Let’s drive the changes together” – a statement broadly viewed as Beijing signalling its strategic alignment with Moscow against Washington.