President Xi Jinping has begun a month of travel expected to lead to the United States and a summit with President Donald Trump. That contrasts with the earlier part of the year which saw Xi hardly going anywhere but staying in Beijing. Instead, he hosted foreign leaders who flocked to meet him, including those of middle powers such as Britain, Germany, Canada and Spain, as they looked beyond an unpredictable American president and mixed signals from Washington.This reflects the growing importance of China’s economic power, the potential of its vast market and latest technological advances. Now, ahead of his proposed…