China is the first major economy to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic that originated on the mainland itself. While the overall economy could not avoid a slowdown, the country's ability to control the virus by March meant economic activity was able to resume relatively quickly.
That activity in turn has powered more wealth creation, creating even more Chinese billionaires. The mainland is now home to a record 415 billionaires worth a combined $1.7 trillion, up from 389 worth $1.2 trillion in April last year, according to new research by UBS and PwC.
Chinese billionaires' combined fortunes have climbed ninefold over the past decade, while those of the richest in the US doubled during the same period. That says a lot about how the centre of economic gravity has been shifting to the East.
But the rising fortunes of the wealthy in China and Asia Pacific amid the pandemic is in stark contrast to the plight of millions of people being pushed into poverty as lockdown measures, the collapse of tourism and weak demand for exports decimate livelihoods.
While domestic sentiment looks impressive, I wonder whether the wealthiest Chinese are happy, as negative perceptions of their country abroad have reached new heights. The US and others have condemned Beijing's early mishandling of Covid-19, as well as the country's human rights record and its increasingly assertive stance in international affairs.
A survey by the US-based Pew Research Center found that a majority of respondents in 14 surveyed countries held an unfavourable opinion of China. In nine -- including Germany, the UK, South Korea and Canada -- negative opinion was at its highest since Pew began polling on the topic more than a decade ago.
The rise in disapproval was starkest in Australia, reflecting growing tension between the two governments. Eighty-one percent of Australians now have negative view of China, up from 57% a year ago.
Negative views of President Xi Jinping are also at all-time highs in all countries for which past data was available, with the exceptions of Japan and Spain.
The results highlight the difficulty Beijing faces winning global approval despite actions such as liberally distributing aid to other countries and pledging to make any potential Chinese coronavirus vaccine available to the world.
The survey was released last Tuesday when US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in Tokyo for meetings with his counterparts from Japan, Australia and India -- all nations that have had souring relations with China.
The Tokyo meeting included a pledge by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Mr Pompeo and the foreign ministers of Australia and India to step up coordination to create a "free and open Indo-Pacific", in a veiled counter to China's rising assertiveness. They vowed to work to ensure the peace and stability of the region, the Japanese government said.
"The international community is facing multiple and various challenges. This is exactly why right now is the time that we must further deepen our coordination with as many countries as possible that share our vision," said Mr Suga.
"At the appropriate time … we can begin to build out a true security framework, a fabric that can counter the challenge that the Chinese Communist Party presents to all of us," Mr Pompeo said. "We won't bend the knee to China."
Citing Washington's longstanding relationship with Taiwan, he also noted that the US is doing all it can can to reduce tension in the Taiwan Strait and elsewhere.
"I can identify too many [places] -- whether it's the challenges they're presenting to the Vietnamese, who just want to drill in their own economic zone; whether it's here in Japan where they threaten and force you to scramble jets with tremendous frequency in the Senkaku Islands; what's happening in the Himalayas -- this is Chinese bullying. This is the Chinese using coercive power. This isn't how great nations operate."
China was growing more assertive before Mr Xi's rise, but under his leadership Beijing has adopted more confrontational tactics -- such as building and militarising artificial islands in the South China Sea. That has made it easier for the US to rally key allies behind the common goal of checking Beijing's expansionism.
Clearly, China faces growing challenges from an increasingly unified Western coalition. While its trade war with the US didn't damage the Chinese economy that much, what should worry Beijing is the tide of public distrust of its leaders' international intentions. Without a change of attitude, it will only rise in the years to come.