Until 1949, when the Communist People’s Republic of China was formed after the defeat of the Nationalist forces, the Chinese were constantly involved in territorial disputes with neighbouring Asian countries, notably Japan, and disturbances throughout the country were common as various factions asserted their right to control. At the end of World War II, the new communist government modeled itself on that of the former Soviet Union and established control at almost every level.

Under the rigid authoritarianism of early communist rule and the founder of the People’s Republic of China, Mao Zedong, China stagnated for over 20 years. His leadership oversaw the implementation of a communist vision at any cost – millions died in the Great Leap Forward, a period of rapid industrialisation and state control over agriculture, and also the Cultural Revolution, a socio-political movement that lasted for a decade between 1966 and 1976 and was an attempt to weed out of society anything or anyone that went against communist ideology.

Mao’s death in 1976 saw the start of Deng Xiaoping’s rule, which kick started economic reform replacing state socialism with a more capitalist system and in turn generated rapid growth that has since turned China into the world’s second largest economy.

The soaring rate of the country’s economic change has not been matched by political or social reform however, and though things have moved on since the Maoist radicalism of the 50s and 60s that saw millions die, the Communist Party of China – the world’s largest political party – has retained its strong monopoly on power and exerts huge control over its people.