China's rise as a global player exposes its 'soft power deficit'

THIS week sees China celebrate the 40th anniversary of the start of Deng Xiaoping's landmark economic reforms, including Tuesday's speech by President Xi Jinping. While the changes have been one of the biggest game-changers in global affairs in the post-war era, their very success raises today not just key opportunities but also challenges for Beijing.

On the success side of the ledger, China's rise to greater prominence has been one of the defining features in recent decades. For instance, IMF data since 2014 has asserted that the Chinese economy is now larger than its US counterpart on a purchasing power parity basis (which makes adjustments for the fact that goods are cheaper in China and other countries relative to the United States).

In so doing, Beijing has recorded an average annual GDP growth rate of around 9.5 per cent in the past 40 years. And this has fostered growth of a middle-income population of 400 million and lifted more than 700 million Chinese out of poverty.