On her graduation day at the prestigious Kennedy School at Harvard, Yang Jia’s dean called her “China’s soft power”. A decade later, Yang, 49, has probably become more than that — in a country which has the largest population of the disabled in the world, visually impaired Yang is now its symbol of hope.

The Chinese Culture Year, which ran from Oct. 7, 2010 to Jan. 14, was a very important cultural exchange event in the time since the two countries established ties more than 40 years ago, the Chinese ambassador to Italy said. "The event has a profound impact on the Italian people and laid a solid foundation for the healthy development of bilateral ties."

China is planning to open more Confucius Institutes to teach traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) overseas in order to promote this age-old medical science, deemed the essence of Chinese culture, said Vice Minister of Health Wang Guoqiang...The Confucius Institutes are non-profit public institutions for promoting Chinese language and culture in foreign countries.

Hong Kong-based Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings Ltd will receive an unspecified level of financial support from Bank of China Ltd to boost the development of China's cultural industry, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.

Unlike Augustan Rome, the Song Dynasty that inspired Qingming Shanghe Tu exerted a different kind of power.... Its entrepreneurs and scholars invented technologies still in use today, technologies that enabled widespread education, encouraged trade and travel, inspired artistic excellence and not only tolerated but encouraged diversity and openness.

One aspect is culture, a powerful, but as-yet poorly deployed tool in the exercise of China's soft power and public diplomacy... This is important because as the Chinese learn how to use these tools better, they will more effectively compete in the contest for hearts and minds. It's also critical if this country is ever to move from merely "Made in China" to its long elusive goal of "Created in China."

There’s also a strong likelihood that Chinese interest in Africa’s infrastructure will wane in time. This is because China is not in Africa out of magnanimity, but rather to extract resources and boost its soft-power reach. Once those are secured, there will be less reason to invest in infrastructure.

Ma’s push to reposition Taiwan on the international stage as a peacemaker... “We are trying to deliver on this goal by utilizing our soft power assets in a variety of fields spanning humanitarian aid and cultural exchanges, and as a creator of business opportunities and high-tech devices.”