China scholar: Beijing not ready to meet global expectations

A leading scholar of Chinastudies said Beijingis still preoccupied with domestic development issues, and it will be a long-term goal for Chinato take up full scale international responsibilities.

Gustaff Geeraerts, professor of international relations at Vrije Universiteit Brussels and director of the Brussels Institute of Contemporary China Studies, said there is growing international expectation for Chinato take greater responsibility in supporting a sustainable global economy because China's expanding economic power has extended it's reach virtually across the globe.

But the global presence should not hide the fact that "Chinaremains in many ways a fragile power" for reasons including relatively low GDP per capita, development disparity and ecological degradation.

"Chinais still at a premature stage of development and has to overcome tremendous internal difficulties within a reasonable timeframe... Sustainable domestic economic development is the most pressuring challenge," Geeraerts said at the fifth World Forum on China Studies in Shanghai.

Geeraerts said Chinais facing an ever-harder quandary deciding between China's identity as a developing country and its identity as an emerging power. Beijingalso needs stable relationships with its Asian neighbors and the global community in order to limit disputes with China's rise and prevent other countries from containing China.

In the scholar's view, Chinawill not simply adopt the "Western" system, nor will it try to delegitimize, challenge and replace it.

"The most likely road for Chinais to opt for an evolutionary path of gradually accepting more commitments and responsibilities...seeking to implement its own vision of global order pragmatically."