RIO DE JANEIRO, June 18 (Xinhua) -- China's increasing importance in the international community implies a great responsibility and the challenge of making that compatible with its internal needs, a Brazilian expert said Thursday.

    As China climbs toward one of the top positions in the world economy, its political and diplomatic weight increases, Luis Antonio Paulino, a world economy professor and head of the Confucius Institute at Sao Paulo State University, said in an interview with Xinhua.

    "China's actual contribution to the growth of the world economy is higher than the United States'," Paulino said.

    The professor said China plays a key role in the world's economic growth, which puts the country in a position similar to other powers in the past.

    Paulino pointed out that China remained relatively isolated from the world economy until 1978 when it began to open itself up to the world.

    "With the reform and opening policy started in 1978, China not only transformed its economic system from a centralized planned economy to a socialist market economy, but also integrated to the global economy. China is, today, an economy more open than Japan," he said.

    China's external trade, Paulino said, represents more than 60 percent of its gross domestic product, which means that the country's "fantastic economic growth in the past years has created opportunities for income and employment not only in China, but in all countries."

    INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE

    China's rapid economic development, Paulino said, means its opinions on any subject, from the reorganization of the international financial system to the environment and world security, "are listened to attentively by all countries and leaders in the world."

    If that shows recognition of China's strength, the professor said, it also means a great responsibility because what happens in China has increasing repercussions on the rest of the planet.

    Countries such as the United States and Great Britain became world powers when they were already relatively rich, and that allowed them to make certain concessions to exercise their leadership. China, Paulino said, is becoming a power but is still a developing country.

    "This is a great contradiction which poses a double challenge for China: worrying about its internal development and about the repercussions of its policies in the rest of the world," the professor said.

    He said that it's necessary for China to develop a healthy and positive relationship with the rest of the world.

    "China has one fifth of the world's population, and its culture and civilization have great contributions to the progress of the humanity," Paulino said. "China's cooperation with all countries with mutual respect fits its position and will promote the balanced global development."