Since the world's media has descended in unprecedented fashion on Beijing to cover the quinquennial national congress of the Communist Party of China, it is worth attempting to understand the significance of an essentially internal political event in the global context.

Typically, media covers big-ticket spectacles in the fields of international politics (summits), economics and trade (agreements or conferences), culture and entertainment (music or film events) or sports (Olympics, World Cups).

Clearly, the world looks at the 19th National Congress as much more than a mere Party reunion, so it has synced itself with Beijing, implying something has happened over the last five years to warrant intense global attention.