However, China was able to demonstrate resounding success in the achievement of liberalization agreements with the more developed regional economies: during the APEC summit it was announced that bilateral free trade pacts with Australia and the Republic of Korea had been agreed in principle and were almost ready to sign. Australia is already part of the TPP structure and Korea has shown interest in joining, so China is here challenging the United States on its own ground.

In all, China's bilateral diplomacy on the margins of APEC was extremely successful, with a long-awaited meeting between President Xi and Japanese Prime Minister Abe, and bilateral agreements with the United States on trade in high technology and climate change, as well as in the ever-sensitive field of the issuing of visas. All of these can be seen as confidence-building measures, assuring those countries which are frequently seen as rivals to China that these rivalries should not preclude practical cooperation, and that cooperation may even serve as a means of taking the edge off mutual suspicion.

In all, the hyperactive Chinese diplomacy of November 2014 can be seen as an exercise in the projection of soft power. China has established a claim to the highest level of prominence in the Asia-Pacific region, not by rattling sabres but by coming up with constructive practical suggestions for raising levels of prosperity and living standards among its neighbours, who can all see the spectacular improvement in the quality of life in China over the last thirty years. Both at home and abroad, President Xi continues to show an impressive breadth of vision and the determination to forge it into reality. China is not seeking hegemony, but showing leadership.

The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.ccgp-fushun.com/opinion/timcollard.htm

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