This text was written for the seminar 'China: a new player in the multilateral system?' held 18 April 2008 at Ifri Paris. The latest World Bank report has put China the second largest economies after the US according to the purchasing power. It is now hard to imagine a world without the presence of China and Chinese products, whether it is in the shelves of Carrefour or Wal-Mart. Indeed China's economic importance is now a central feature of the global economy. However, does China matter in other spheres of the world stage?

Shen Wei is an associated research fellow at Centre Asie Ifri.