China’s #MeToo movement has taken a step closer to the centre of power in Beijing, after sexual abuse allegations by a top Chinese tennis star were made against a man who until recently was one of Xi Jinping’s closest henchman at the pinnacle of Communist party rule.

The tennis star, Peng Shuai, made the allegations against Zhang Gaoli, who until 2018 was vice-president and a member of the seven-strong Standing Committee of the Party’s Politburo, the country’s highest ruling group.