Michael Schaper

The fact that China has become a superpower in the past two decades is not surprising - but the fact that it came so late is. Much earlier in its more than 2,000-year history, the country had all the prerequisites to become a global player whose military and economic power characterises the development of the entire globe. However, there were always factors that prevented this development: sometimes it was an invasion from the steppe, then a civil war and finally the emperors' decision to isolate their empire from the world. Yet the Chinese empire was already a power with unique potential when it was founded: in the 3rd century BC, the first emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi, overpowered all neighbouring states with brutal force and united them under his rule; by the time of his death in 210 BC, China's territory covered more than three million square kilometres.