Until the terror attacks on US landmarks in September, China had appeared set for a year characterised by the attainment of national milestones and the strongest economic performance among the world's larger countries.
The unalloyed joy that greeted the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) decision in July to award the 2008 summer games to Beijing represented another leap in China's rapid transition from the isolationist, totalitarian state of 20 years ago into a more activist and accepting member of the world community.