China in 2009: a year for surprise

The first weeks of 2009 find China consumed by the same anxiety as the rest of the world. No one in Beijing's top leadership wants a repeat of 2008's high-wire ride (the Beijing Olympics) and lows (the Tibet protests, the Sichuan earthquake, the contaminated milk-powder scandal). But the year of quiet development and consolidation that it might hoped for is not in prospect, for China shares with other leading players such as the United States and the European Union the predicament of a global economy in deep crisis.