Damping down the nation's rejuvenation

In his well-known book, When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order, Martin Jacques claims China's impact on the world will be profound and, in the long term, China will seek "to transform that system while at the same time, in effect, sponsoring a new China-centric international system which will exist alongside the present system and probably slowly begin to usurp it".

Jacques' bullish statement raises the expectation that China may come to dominate the world in the not-too-distant future. However, David Shambaugh, a leading expert in the field of contemporary China studies in the United States, pours cold water on such an upbeat sentiment.

In his newly released book, China Goes Global: the Partial Power, Shambaugh systematically examines China's global impact in economic, political, military and cultural fields.