Andy, as I see the current Chinese ambitions, it is to further anchor themselves as The Big Dog locally, which they are already. Go back to Imperial Japan and consider the "Asian Co Prosperity Sphere" idea. That's step one. They are already trading globally. They already have significant links to resources in African nations without all of the moralizing the modern West brings with them.
Jung Gwo (my spelling) aka China aka the Middle Kingdom has an eye on becoming "the Middle Empire" but I don't know how to parse that in Mandarin.
As to the debt: that is leverage for "war by other means" ...