China's confidence soared between two Olympics: media

China's confidence soared strongly between two Olympics, and the international environment turned very different 14 years after the Beijing Summer Games, said The (London) Guardian on Wednesday.

The 2008 Games were a symbolic moment for China, with the theme song speaking to this reinvented and reinvigorated country to the world: Beijing Welcomes You. For many, the Olympic slogan, "One world, one dream", was a sign that China's convergence with the rest of the world was inevitable, according to the newspaper.

Jacques Rogge, the then-president of the International Olympic Committee, said, "The world has learned about China, and China has learned about the world, and I believe this is something that will have positive effects for the long term."

The Guardian said the two Olympics Games that China holds both take place during epoch-defining global events and shifts in China's relations with the West.

The 2008 Games coincided with the beginnings of the global financial crisis and symbolized China's recognition on the world stage.

The fallout of the financial crisis was not just economic, but made clear the reality of a less Western-centric world order, and boosted China's confidence in its own system of economic management, The Guardian highlighted.

The country's GDP expanded robustly even at the time of a global crisis, surpassing Germany to become the largest exporting nation in 2009, and in the following year replacing Japan as the second-largest economy in the world.

The West has also changed significantly in the decade leading up to the 2022 Games. In the UK, the Brexit vote in 2016 marked a turning point in Britain's relations with the outside world and sowed domestic division. In the US, the election of Trump also highlighted domestic tensions, while his China policy amplified the frictions, the Guardian said.

"Nowadays, China wants to show its assertiveness," said Xu Guoqi, a historian at Hong Kong University.