I thought everyone knew this why was China seems to randomly invest in other countries infrastructure? It's not random, they hope countries can't pay for it so they get to slowly take over a country bit by bit.
With more countries having China as their biggest trading partner than the US, Chinas ability to use embargoes as a political tool solidifies each day. China can wreck some countries economy if they stop trading with them, imagine forcing others to follow suit, it would break that country for good.
Now pair embargoes with superior naval forces and China will be able to use their military freely while twisting the arms of any country that tries to voice opposition to it. Much like the US did in the past century, to be fair.