Axios

The biggest surprise to investors of late may not be the success of Brexit or the Trump campaign, but the Chinese government's saving of an economy that looked headed towards a hard landing just one year ago.

Since that time, markets have set aside worries over the China's stability, as we watched the economy find its feet by doubling down on a strategy of higher debt, mostly in the corporate, state-owned sector.

Source: Bank of International Settlements

The Wall Street Journal checks in on the health of these SOEs, pointing out that over the past year, they have binged on debt, with borrowing growth hitting 25% in 2016, compared with private debt growth of just 3%.

Why it matters: The amount of debt the Chinese economy needs to add to create to hit its growth targets rate has risen steadily in recent years, suggesting the strategy of funneling loans for state-owned enterprises to invest is unsustainable. Furthermore, the practice is likely crowding out more efficient investments by China's increasingly innovative private sector.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will skip what would be his first NATO meeting in Brussels next month to attend President Trump's get-together with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago and will head to Russia at the end of April, per Reuters, citing 4 current and former U.S. officials.

Why it matters: The news comes at the end of a day where the headlines were dominated by House testimony from FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers about Russian interference in the presidential elections and ties to the Trump campaign. Trump has previously criticized NATO and called for its members to contribute more for their own defense.

Prime Minister Theresa May will trigger Article 50 on March 29, which formally begins the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union.

What's next: Negotiations over the exit, which can expected to last two years. Departing a single market won't be simple, and May has already said she wants a "hard" Brexit, rather than leaving one foot in the door. At this pace, the U.K. will be fully split from the E.U. by early 2019.

Axios' Mike Allen broke the news last week that President Trump plans to host Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago next month "for a lowering-the-temperature summit with vast economic and security implications."

Xi is entering the most sensitive period of his time in office, the year in which he's poised to secure a second five year term as head of the Communist Party. The transition is a volatile and tense period, and he does not want all of the complications that would come with an unstable relationship with the U.S. To get a preview of the talks I spoke with Richard McGregor, who wrote "The Party," a seminal book on China's Communist Party. The takeaway: China does not want (for the moment) to upend the status quo.