A growing quandary

China is seeking to find a balance between its identity as a developing country and its identity as an emerging power

China is both a developing country and an emerging power; a subtle balancing between yin and yang as it were. The ultimate synthesis is a China that sees itself as a "responsible power": the self-image of a country that wishes to develop peacefully, stage a revival whilst remaining faithful to its rich cultural heritage and identity. The rhetoric is one of a harmonious world calling for a more proactive foreign policy to build a world order where states can be equal and have mutual trust, common security can be achieved, diversity of civilizations can be maintained and win-win cooperation leads to common prosperity.

In the process of developing China's new self-image, the most challenging task for the new leadership in Beijing is to find a workable balance between China's weak power identity and strong power identity. While China outmatches other emerging powers in building up comprehensive national power, it remains in many ways a fragile power. Over the past decade, the Chinese economy achieved nearly double-digital growth per year. In 2003 China's GDP was $1.4 trillion and its per capita GDP was $1,090, in 2012 its GDP was more than $8 trillion, about 55 percent of the size of the US economy, and its per capital GDP exceeded $6,000. In 2011 it turned into the second largest economy in the world and in 2013 it has become the largest trading nation in the world.