Considering the importance of public diplomacy in cultural and people-to-people exchanges, we encouraged and supported the foreign ministries of the three countries to continue consultations on a trilateral forum on public diplomacy to enhance understanding and friendship among the peoples of the three countries.

China’s soft power has also been ascendant in Africa. [...] China is leveraging its soft power — culture, investment, academia, foreign aid, public diplomacy — more effectively than before to influence Africa and other regions in the developing world.

Ethiopia's Addis Ababa Rail project opened last month to the delight of excited residents of the country's capital. The $475m urban rail project [...] is one of the most obvious examples of Beijing's huge role in Ethiopia's infrastructure development. The world's most populous nation has also built dams, roads, and factories in Ethiopia, and even gifted Addis Ababa the African Union headquarters, which cost $200m.

2015 has already seen several Chinese propaganda videos, from foreign students falling in love with President Xi Jinping to Britain and China being “closer thank you think”; but this video is the most bizarre (until the next). The state news agency, Xinhua, tweeted the video above with the caption: “Wanna know what China’s gonna do? Best pay attention to the 十三五! See why it matters”.