Jonathan McClory is a partner at Sanctuary Counsel, a strategic advisory firm in London, and the creator of The Soft Power 30 index.
It feels like another era, but it was less than four years ago that Xi Jinping took to the stage at the 2017 World Economic Forum in Davos, setting out China's stall as an emerging force for global good, a protector of international trade, and a champion for combating climate change.