A survey of African stakeholders carried out in 40 African countries by the OECD for the African Economic Outlook 2011 found that emerging partners such as China were ranked as having a comparative advantage for cooperation in infrastructure, innovation, and even health compared with Africa’s traditional bilateral and multilateral partners.

Pope Francis is more than a religious leader — he’s also a politician. And that’s led him to controversially deny an audience to the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet.  During his still young and highly ambitious papacy, Francis has made it clear he would like to broaden his church’s appeal.

Officials from Iran and China in a meeting in Beijing agreed to strengthen cooperation between the two Asian nations in the field of media and public diplomacy.

This week, as the Nobel Peace Prize was formally handed to a teenage Pakistani activist and an Indian child-rights campaigner, a Chinese group issued an alternate award to the retired Cuban leader, long regarded by Western counterparts as a tyrant and Cold War nemesis.

BRICS could emerge as a voice for an alternative world view and development model as there is a good scope to take the relationship forward, Rajiv Sikri, former secretary at India’s Ministry of External Affairs, told RT.

On December 7 and 8, the Confucius Institutes Headquarters held the 9th Confucius Institute Conference in Xiamen in southern China. The conference theme was “Embrace the New Decade of Confucius Institute,” and was attended by over 2000 delegates. 

As Beijing is trying to shift its economic focus to quality from quantity, the central government is also becoming increasingly interested in demonstrating its so-called "soft power" to the rest of the world.