BEIJING, Jan. 5 -- The year 2009 has now become past tense. During 2009, China attracted worldwide attention for the great progress made in economy, culture, politics, diplomacy and its own image. According to a U.S.-based media tracking group, the rise of China as an economic superpower was the most-read news story of the past decade, out-stripping the number 2 Internet story, the War in Iraq, by 400 percent.

    ECONOMY

    "Some people once thought that China's ambition to guarantee an economic growth rate of 8 percent in 2009 was a day dream, but China has reached its goal."

    The U.S.-based magazine Time, recently pointed out, "A year ago, many people considered China's ambition to guarantee an economic growth rate of 8 percent a day dream, but China has succeeded in realizing its ambition. China maintained the highest growth rate among the world's major economies, strongly spurring economic development in other countries."

    "China's economic growth is real, and the world should not expect China to stop or tumble. Instead, it should cope with China's growth which is faster than that of any other country. Others should not expect China will fail to maintain its current growth rate and let the U.S. maintain its status as the world's only economic superpower. Instead, they should get ready to usher in a world in which China will play a more important role. The old story has ended and China represents the present and the future." U.S.-based Forbes Magazine recently published an article entitled "China's growth is real." According to the article, the driving force behind China's economic growth came from the large-scale construction and infrastructure projects launched by China's central government and local government bodies, as well as the notable export rebound.

    CULTURE

    "Chinese culture will shine worldwide. China's soft power will make a stride forward."

U.S. guests learn from Peking Opera performers in Beijing, April 27, 2009. (People's Daily/Fan Jiwen) Photo Gallery>>>

    In 2009, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visited five European countries, and attended the Europalia China Art Festival and China's Guest-of-Honor activities at Frankfurt Book Fair. On October 14, 2009, China Press USA carried an article entitled, "Showing soft power, China's cultural parade staged," which said that Vice President Xi's visit indicated China's intention to conduct cultural diplomacy."

    The article commented that China's participation at the Frankfurt Book Fair as the guest of honor for the first time undoubtedly served as an opportunity to showcase China's glamorous culture. The attitude of "actively going global" demonstrated that China had become more confident about its culture, and its soft power was improving.

    Since 2009, China has been conducting sweeping reforms within its cultural system, and a great number of large publishers and media groups were restructured one by one to compete for a voice in the international community. In addition, the Shanghai 2010 World Expo which will last for half a year will open in Shanghai in May 2010. It is foreseeable that a series of activities will enable Chinese culture to shine worldwide in 2010, and as a result, China's soft power will make a stride forward.

    POLITICS

    "China's economy is constantly improving and the country is more responsible in politics."

    Recently, the U.S.-based magazine Forbes published an article entitled, "Yes, China has fully arrived as a superpower," saying that China was not only becoming stronger economically, but also becoming more responsible politically. While effectively dealing with the global financial crisis, China also played a leading role in the G20, and was indispensable to the world's economy.

    According to the Sydney Morning Herald's article entitled, "The wait has passed, and China is marching forward bravely in politics," Professor White, a strategic researcher at the Australian National University, said that in the past, China's economy was growing ceaselessly but its political influence was limited. But now, China's increasing political influence in 2009 already became a fact that cannot be ignored. In terms of economy, White expressed that after the financial crisis, China noticeably played an important role in the world, and of course, the western world essentially welcomes and encourages the role that China played.

    DIPLOMACY

    "The frequent visits by all nine members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee were rarely seen in the past, and China's people-oriented diplomacy is not empty talk anymore."

    Singapore's United Morning Post published an article entitled, "China's people-centered diplomacy is not empty talk in 2009." The article pointed out that many diplomacy-related events occurred in China all year round. It is a rare thing that all nine members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee visited so many countries. 　

    According to the article, President Hu Jintao attended the G20 Summit in London in April. In June, he was present at the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) Summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia and also spoke with Brazilian, Russian and Indian leaders and visited Russia and Slovakia. In November, he visited Malaysia and Singapore and attended an APEC meeting. On December 15, President Hu completed a visit to two Central Asian countries.     

    Premier Wen Jiabao visited four European countries and the EU headquarters in January, and paid a friendly visit to DPRK in October. In November, he visited Egypt and attended the opening ceremony of the ministerial-level meeting of the Sino-African Cooperation Forum. In December, he flew to Denmark to attend the UN Conference on Climate Change.

    The article also commented that the Chinese government's theory of people-oriented diplomacy was not empty talk any longer. People heard the voices of Chinese embassies in foreign countries, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and even Chinese leaders played roles in various events such as saving hostages in Iraq, evacuating Chinese citizens from Tonga, and saving Chinese engineers and workers being held hostage in Pakistan and Somalia. The Chinese convoy fleet was further proof of the people-centered diplomacy of China.

    IMAGE

    "Chinese workers were nominated as Time Magazine's Person of the Year 2009 for their hard work because they led the world's economy on the path to recovery."

Chinese workers, whose image appeared on TIME Magazine in 2009, pose for photos. (People's Daily/Zhang Yanjun, Zhang Guofang) Photo Gallery>>>

    Recently, Time Magazine announced that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was selected as the Person of the Year 2009. In the meantime, a group of anonymous Chinese workers, together with Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Usain Bolt, a Jamaican sprint champion, were nominated as runners-up for the Person of the Year 2009.

    Time Magazine said that Chinese workers were nominated Person of the Year 2009 because China's success in maintaining an eight percent GDP growth rate should be firstly attributed to the tens of thousands of workers who leave their hometowns to work in China's prosperous coastal cities. The ordinary Chinese men and women's hard work in the past and outlook for the future has led world's economy on the path to recovery.

    (Source: People's Daily Online)