We tracked the education of Xi Jinping and how he ascended from farm hand to chemical engineering student and later one of the world's most powerful leaders.

Back in 2000, the world’s power players were a varied lot in age, steering their nations through a pre-9/11 fog. George W. Bush would soon be US President at 54 years old. Jiang Zemin, 74, led China.

In this backdrop, President Xi Jinping's visit to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia sends a positive signal that China will ...