XI Jinping: The other frequent flier

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Even in the era of presidential jet travel, Xi has roamed farther, to more places and to more continents than any other top figure in China's history.

From the time in which he took up the presidency in spring 2013 to the start of 2016, he has visited almost 40 countries. Only India's Narendra Modi competes with him for the number of international locations visited by a major head of state.

Xi Jinping has in his words mapped since 2013, a world of broadly three zones. In the centre of China's world is the US, its most important bilateral relationship and the one it expends most energy on.

In the second zone, there is the "One Belt, One Road" initiative, a vast idea that encompasses over 60 countries, many in China's immediate region.

Finally, there is the "civilisational partnership" idea, applied to the European Union, which retains its immense economic importance to China, even as its political identity remains more vexed. These "zones" are guided by a number of different imperatives. They link security, political, geographical, economic and resource interests for China. In a sense, they give an indication of the scope of Chinese contemporary ambition, and its tactics and content.