Week 6 - Alvin Du

I was six years old when I moved from China. However, growing up in the United States has dulled my perception of Chinese politics. It seems that in foreign countries, people believe the Chinese government to be malicious while natives believe their government is doing the best for the people. Shen Ding states in Beijing's National Image Branding that China's national image is weak due to its political credibility and foreign politics. I believe foreign countries perceive this image because of China's communistic past. It's interesting to juxtapose the different political views between the Chinese and foreigners.  Furthermore, China's national image seems to be cheap products and cheap labor. This is definitely a dent in China's armor of credibility. But the Ding's main argument is that in order for China to rebrand its national image, it needs political reform. Since I can't speak for politics, I can speak for China's economic growth; China's GDP since 2000 has been increasing at a faster pace than The United States. Currently, the country's GDP is above 13 trillion USD which means that it's catching up to the US. Within the next decade, China might surpass the US.

Ding, Sheng. "Beijings National Image Branding." 2011. PDF file.