Beijing needs to tackle its soft-power deficit

THE World Economic Forum (WEF) meets in the Chinese city of Dalian from Tuesday to Thursday for the so-called "Summer Davos". The event comes at a time when China is assuming a greater global leadership profile, including on issues such as climate change and trade, at the same time that President Donald Trump intends to withdraw from a series of previous US international treaty commitments in these areas.

This week's big forum is not the first time this year that China has used the WEF to position itself, positively, on the world stage. In January, Xi Jinping became the first Chinese president to give a speech at the flagship annual Davos event in Switzerland making an impassioned defence of economic globalisation in the face of Mr Trump's protectionist rhetoric.

This underscores that China has been a big beneficiary of globalisation with IMF (International Monetary Fund) data since 2014 showing that the Chinese economy is now larger than its US counterpart on a purchasing power parity basis. The latter formula makes adjustments for the fact that goods are cheaper in the country relative to the United States.