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BEIJING - From the oil fields of Africa to American living rooms and Asia's shopping malls, virtually every part of the world felt the impact in 2006 of China's ongoing, spectacular transformation.
China's courting of Africa, which resulted in a strengthened alliance of some concern to the West, was one of the most striking features of the country's seemingly inexorable rise as a global power.
President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing visited 16 African nations in the first half of the year, with tapping the continent's energy resources one of their top priorities.
China hosted a summit of African leaders in November, calling it the biggest diplomatic event since the Communist Party established the People's Republic in 1949.
China uses "peaceful rise" as a mantra when referring to its development, well aware that many countries are concerned that the growing power of the world's most populous nation is a threat as much as an opportunity.
But perhaps in a sign that China is becoming increasingly emboldened, Hu made a speech in India that appeared to deviate from cautious rhetoric and left no doubt about his view on the shifting balance of global power.
"If India and China take the necessary steps to strengthen trade and business, the 21st century will be Asia's," Hu said during his November trip.
India and many other nations looked to forge closer ties with China in 2006, viewing it as essential to their own economic progress.
China officially became the world's fourth biggest economy at the beginning of the year. It then recorded stunning economic growth that is expected to amount to about 10.5 per cent for 2006.
Meanwhile, the country's status as the world's "factory floor" grew. China pumped out a phenomenal amount of cheap products that helped its trade surplus soar to another record high.
The surplus was again a key cause of friction between China and its major trading partners, which maintained the Chinese were using an unfair foreign exchange policy to gain a trade advantage.
Consequently China's tight rein on its currency, the yuan, was one of the hot-button issues in 2006. The United States led a barrage of complaints that the yuan remained dramatically undervalued.
Another sign of China's growing global clout was the appointment in November of Hong Kong's Margaret Chan as the new chief of the World Health Organisation. Chan became the first Chinese national to head a United Nations agency.
Eyes were also on China amid global efforts to defuse the crisis triggered by North Korea's first test of a nuclear bomb on October 9.
China is the North's closest ally and its efforts on the issue were welcomed in Washington - although the year drew to a close without any major breakthrough in the stand-off.
Domestically, China's Communist Party rulers continued to struggle with corruption and the problems linked to the nation's economic boom, particularly environmental degradation.
In the biggest political scandal in a decade, the party's chief in Shanghai was sacked in September over the misuse of about $400 million of the city's pension fund.
China's preparations as host of the Olympics in 2008 were also tainted by graft, with the vice-mayor in charge of construction sacked in June for corruption.
Organisers insisted corruption would not affect the event, while International Olympic Committee chiefs remained confident preparations were going smoothly.
But corruption and a blinkered focus on wealth by many in China remained major contributors to the nation's worsening environment, as well as rising social unrest.
The country's top environment watchdog, Zhou Shengxian, said in November that China's environment had reached a critical point where health and social stability were under threat.
- AFP
