In a year dominated by Brexit and Donald Trump's surprise U.S. election win, Asia felt like a relatively stable part of the world. A closer look shows that the region endured its own seismic events in 2016, from a Philippine leader embracing China to massive street protests in Seoul to the elimination of 86 percent of India's hard currency.

Here we look at how key leaders performed. They are listed in order of the size of their economy.

Xi Jinping