iSoftStone, which is providing technical support to this Bangladesh project, is a global leader in digital city technologies based in Beijing. It has developed smart city strategies for over 100 municipalities and has implemented more than 50 related digital solutions. The organisation provides comprehensive end-to-end solutions to governments, industries and enterprises with urban management, industrial application, services for livelihood improvement and city innovation.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s message to the newly established China Global Television Network sounds simple enough. It’s one he’s repeated over and over to state media during his nearly five years in power. “Tell China’s story well,” he said in a congratulatory letter published by the broadcaster on New Year’s Eve, the day the organization launched. 

The anniversary of Shakespeare’s death is now over, but officially inspired adulation of Tang carries on. [...] Officials want to cultivate pride in Chinese literature, and boost foreign awareness of it. It is part of what they like to call China’s “soft power”.
 

China Central Television (CCTV), Beijing’s largest TV network, said it would launch a new global media platform on New Year’s Day to help re-brand China overseas. [...] President Xi Jinping, in a congratulatory letter, urged the new network to “tell China stories well, spread China’s voice well, let the world know a three-dimensional, colorful China, and showcase China’s role as a builder of world peace”.

Two thousand years ago, merchants and caravans began moving between east and west along the Silk Road, trading goods, philosophy and technology. Now a modern Silk Road, rekindling trade and achieving common prosperity, is in the making. The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Chinese president Xi Jinping, has gained traction in the last three years, scholars and officials said.

China is eagerly trying to win hearts and minds in politically and economically crucial states, especially those with abundant natural resources. [...] It is a major priority for Beijing. The Chinese state is well-equipped with “hard” power, but its global influence is nonetheless stymied by two serious obstacles: on the one hand the language barrier, and on the other the country’s fearsome reputation as a military and geopolitical superpower on the rise.

Last week President Xi Jinping received President Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The meeting, in which the two leaders reaffirmed the importance of bi-lateral cooperation, reflected the profound friendship between China and Africa. [...] China is one of Africa’s main commercial partners. 

The Rebalance author Mercy Kuo regularly engages subject-matter experts, policy practitioners, and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into the U.S. rebalance to Asia. This conversation with Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch – Founder and President of the U.S.-China Education Trust and the first Asian American to hold the rank of U.S. ambassador – is the 70th in “The Rebalance Insight Series.”