After the Chinese Communist party’s celebratory 19th congress, which ended last week, some observers proclaimed Xi Jinping a new emperor. Mr Xi, for his part, called China a “great and strong” power and touted his Belt and Road infrastructure initiative to promote Chinese economic and political power around the world.

The US used to be the world’s largest trading nation and its largest bilateral lender. Today nearly 100 countries count China as their largest trading partner, compared to 57 that have such a relationship with the US. China plans to lend more than $1tn for infrastructure projects over the next decade, while the US is cutting back aid programmes and its contributions to the World Bank. Are the alarmists right that China is winning the geopolitical card game with a declining US?

Imagine a visitor from Mars looking at the cards each player holds. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, our Martian would be wise to bet on the US. It holds four aces that are likely to outlast the Trump administration.