The famous China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra made its India debut to a thunderous applause from a housefull audience at Mumbai’s Ravindra Natya Mandir on Friday. The performance, as part of the India-China Music Festival 2012, will be repeated at the Siri Fort auditorium in Delhi on November 27.

That was the message that China sought to convey to President Barack Obama as he completed his eight-hour visit to Yangon (Rangoon) on November 19,2012, during which he met President Thein Sein and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and addressed the students of the Rangoon University.

China has launched a drive to win "hearts and minds" in Africa just as western powers – including Britain and America – are cutting back on their spending on international broadcasting. In January China Central Television (CCTV) launched its first African hub in Nairobi.

On November 2, Xinhua News Agency issued its first digital interactive e-magazine in Arabic, called China Panorama. The new service will focus on in-depth financial reporting and will target Arab elites and professionals. Its aim is to provide a “better and deeper understanding of China and Chinese economy”. Xinhua will thus add another piece to its expanding media network, which already boasts 142 overseas branches.

Thailand and China have agreed to further boost economic ties during a high-level visit by Chinese Premier Wen Jiaboa to Bangkok. Analysts say the visit, following soon after that of U.S. President Barack Obama, highlights increased interest in Southeast Asia’s positive economic outlook.

Fresh from the visit of US President Barack Obama, Thailand is set to host Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao this week. Although president Obama's visit took much of the attention of the press, the Chinese leader's visit is no less significant. The visit is very important in the relationship between the two countries, which will become increasingly sophisticated along as China continues to rise economically and politically.

After investing tens of billions of dollars in Southeast Asia, China has now decided that its vaunted economic power, which has bought it significant influence with regional governments, is not enough. Beijing now wants to be loved, too. In this brave new world of Chinese diplomacy, language and culture -- and, yes, pop songs -- are playing a major role in Beijing's quest to be understood...

For nearly two hundred years the measure of a nation’s progress has been its capacity to Westernize. Today, to a great extent, China has shifted this narrative.

In the last three decades, China has lifted over 500 million of its people out of poverty according to the World Bank. The scale and speed of China’s growth are unprecedented. The world has never seen anything like the rise of China according to Martin Jacques, author of bestseller ‘When China Rules the World: the End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order.’