Table tennis has helped connect China and the United States since 1971, when the US team's visit to Beijing sparked a thaw in relations. The sport is poised to play a similar role again, as Dubai announced on Monday it will sponsor the Chinese national team as part of an effort to promote exchange and growth between the two nations."This will be the first time the Chinese national table tennis team has cooperated with a foreign partner."

Clear progress has been made in China-Africa relations over the past decade or so, driven by economic cooperation. Similarly, the mutual support and friendly relations that China has had with African countries for over half a century are now evolving into “all-round strategic partnerships.” “China-Africa relations” became the world’s most popular phrase seemingly overnight from about 2006, drawing concern from across the globe.

APDS Blogger: David Mandel

BEIJING. So the first thing is that it is big, bigger than you thought, though you imagined it to be very big. Big in an almost surprising way, such that you are taken aback but not so much that you cannot rationalize it, because, after all, you knew it would be.

A little more than a week after journalists at Southern Weekly, one of China’s most daring newspapers, clashed with propaganda authorities in southern China’s Guangdong province over alleged censorship of a New Year’s editorial, China watchers are still trying to suss out what the conflict — which inspired anti-censorship protests both online and in the streets — means for the future of media in China.

Over the past two years, the Obama administration has focused greater diplomatic attention and military resources on East Asia as part of a policy described as a "pivot" or "rebalancing." While American leaders are loath to admit it publicly, this is a response to China's growing influence, particularly Beijing's territorial claims around its borders.

As part of their growing competition for influence in Asia, China and India are using the Buddha as weapon: sponsoring conferences, financing religious sites, and displaying relics in countries where the religion is widely adhered to.

Although China's public diplomacy efforts have run into obstacles over the years, great progress has still been made, international students and Chinese experts said at a recent roundtable in Beijing. Nine University of Southern California (USC) students majoring in public diplomacy also participated in this meeting.

The NIC foresees a transformed world, in which “no country — whether the US, China, or any other large country — will be a hegemonic power.” This reflects four “megatrends”: individual empowerment and the growth of a global middle class; diffusion of power from states to informal networks and coalitions; demographic changes, owing to urbanisation, migration, and aging; and increased demand for food, water and energy.