Each time China is castigated by the international human rights community, or criticized by the Western media, the country’s leaders feel that global public opinion is stacked against them. Western culture and values have gone global in a way that Chinese culture and values have not, and Beijing wants to do something about this.

Last week, People’s Daily ran a commentary that called for the state to build up publishing houses into companies with international brands so their books can help spread “socialist core values.” And some officials ache for a mainland Chinese writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

According to the analysts and diplomats at the table, China's influence is based on cooperation, development and mutual interests. China's 'soft power' (a term that is not popular in Beijing) is its ability to let countries develop at their own rate.

China is considering to set up a special fund to finance arts creation and cultural performances in the latest move to buoy the development of the country's "soft power," a cultural official said Sunday.

China is propelling cultural industry as pillar of its national economy by holding a grand summit of the National Festival here in Chinese People’s Political and Consultative Auditorium, said an official on Saturday.

Wang Guoqing, vice-minister of State Council Information Office (SCIO), led a panel discussion of public diplomacy...To help foreign countries improve the understanding of China, the Chinese government is making great efforts to enhance its public diplomacy skills...

To build itself into a cultural power, China faces the urgent task of safeguarding its "cultural security", strengthening its soft power and boosting the international influence of its culture.

China is expanding its presence on U.S. campuses, seeking to promote its culture and history and meet a growing global demand to learn its language.