In the eyes of the West, China is now a world power. At the launch of talks between America and China this week,1 President Obama declared not just that the relationship between the two countries is as important as any in the world, but that it will "shape the course of the 21st century". As President Hu Jintao also acknowledges, China and the United States shoulder important responsibilities on major global issues. In Europe, 80 percent of those surveyed recently considered China the second most powerful country in the world, after the United States. And when I speak to British students, they constantly Cartier Replica Watches ask me how a stronger China will use its position, and what the ascendancy2 of a country so different from the West will mean to the world. Yet there is a yawning gap between this perception of China as an active, assertive nation,3 and the view of the Chinese themselves, who still see China as a developing country. Our economy may lead Britain's in terms of size, but our GDP per capita is only one fifteenth that of the UK.4 For example, the land area and population of Britain are roughly the same as those of Hunan Province, but its economy is 17 times bigger. Britain is in its prosperous, "post-industrial"5 stage, with 90 percent of the population living in towns and cities; in China, 60 percent still live in the countryside. Even the number of disabled people in China exceeds the total population of Britain. That means that there is a puzzling duality" to China's character: we often say that it is both big and small, strong and weak. In terms of size and quantity, it ranks high in the world, but it falls behind in per capita terms. So there is a long way to go for China to reach the level of world power. It may be destined to contribute more to world peace and development—as many in the West are calling for—but this will be an incremental process, and China can't play a role in the world beyond its capacity. This, of course, isn't always properly understood. Certainly, comments about China in the Western media are not always balanced8. There is an invisible wall separating us: the result of differences in political systems and values, the legacy of the Cold War, and a lag in responding to China's rapid development. But most of all, the wall is there as a result of lack of understanding. In most Western countries, there is limited information about China—particularly about the country as it is today. In Beijing, or any other city, information about the West is relatively abundant: there are original English books and their Chinese translations on the shelves of countless bookstores. Chinese students are taught about the UK, especially its industrial history and literary traditions. Yet it's far harder to find books about modern China in British bookshops, and the country's culture and history are little known. For its part, China needs to do more in terms of explaining its story. Last year, I was disappointed by the negative reporting of the Olympic torch relay in London in April. When I raised it, I was challenged": "Why aren't you putting your point across to the public?" So I wrote an article in The Sunday Telegraph, which started an interesting debate, and showed that our voice can be heard. The question, then, is whether we should continue trying to make that voice heard. And I believe we should. Over the past 60 years, especially the past 30 years of reform and opening-up, China has made solid steps forward, and its economic strength has made qualitative leaps every few years.13 Chinese tourists, students and companies are now found all over the world. Our growth depends more than ever before on external markets, resources and technology—and we are playing an increasingly active role in the world. Incidents within China turn into hot stories across the globe. What we need, then, is to state our case more openly, to enable the world to know more about China IWC Replica Watches and to win more understanding of and acceptance for its peaceful development. No country is perfect. We need to present the facts as they are, and let the world know that China is confronted with serious challenges. We should not only inform the world of our achievements, but also of our efforts to face up to15 problems. As China's relations with the world grow, the opportunities and challenges in terms of public diplomacy also increase. In recent years, Chinese leaders and diplomatic missions16 have made greater efforts in this area. Chinese people travelling, studying and working abroad have also played a role. Some in China may ask: "Isn't the West trying to contain China? Isn't the Western media determined to smear China's image? What's the point of engaging with them?" I would say that there will always be people out there who are hostile to China, and that it may be impossible to change their mind. But most people in the West want to understand China, and know more about it. We should be confident enough to reach out to them.