Concept of diplomacy expands to people-to-people connections

With China becoming increasingly connected with the rest of the world, scholars and politicians are calling for public diplomacy as a way to build its image.

Traditional diplomacy was defined as communicating the official policy of the government, but in recent years, the general public - including scholars, celebrities and entrepreneurs - has shared the responsibility of communicating with foreign citizens, said Zhao Qizheng, dean of the School of Journalism and Communication at Renmin University of China, on the sidelines of the annual conference of Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan province on Friday.

Martin Jacques, senior fellow of the department of politics and international studies at Cambridge University, said a new trend is that countries are becoming more influenced by outside factors, including the growing connectivity of people.