The rise of China has prompted many people to try and explain its cause and interpret its implications. Of course, views vary. While there were some Western observers who said even as early as some 30 years ago that the 21st century would be China’s century, others would say that China is on its way to collapse or China has peaked. Some would equate China with the former Soviet Union, implying a Cold War is inevitable. Some would say that the “Thucydides Trap” is inevitable, and a rising power and the incumbent power must end up in a war.

At the core of many of the doubtful narratives is the notion that “China is not like us”, and that “us” is the West.

Holders of such narratives would refer to China’s different political system, the view that China’s State “intervention” in its economy and businesses is “excessive”, “inappropriate” and “unique”, and that China’s values are different from those of the West. By such inferences, these people would assert that China is not being accepted by the rest of the world. They would say, while China has shown much progress over the past several decades, its ability to sustain such progress is in question.

These kind of narratives and beliefs are significant because they fit into political and economic policy decision-making of many countries, especially the leading Western nations, as well as in strategic decision-making of businesses.

A corollary of such beliefs is that for any country that will become a great power in the world, that country has to be “like us”. And that “us” is the West and what it represents.

Since the First Industrial Revolution, which took place in the mid-18th century, the West dominated that world. Countries from Western Europe, and later the United States, became leading nations in the world. Along the way, they initiated colonization all over the world, spread their values and beliefs, and built international institutions, thereby setting up rules and order.

Of course, this period is an important part of the world’s development history. Nonetheless, it’s only been a relatively short period in human civilizational development.

The world prior to the Industrial Revolution was essentially — in today’s terms — a multipolar world in which different polities (empires, kingdoms and tribes) coexisted, with rises and falls of many of them.

According to the late professor Angus Maddison, China (and India) had been the world’s leading economic power for most of the periods before the rise of Europe.

China in particular had built up its institutions, political organizations and structure since over 2,000 years ago. This system, while not perfect, was instrumental and effective in governing China’s vast territory over several millennia.

Since over 2,000 years ago, a range of schools of philosophical thoughts had emerged from China. While Confucianism was a main school of thought, other schools such as Legalism, Daoism and Mohism were also deeply embedded in the Chinese thoughts. The Militarists, Strategists, Logicians and the Yin-and-Yang schools were also prevalent. Since the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220), the Chinese also took on Buddhism from India and embedded its key thinking into the Chinese culture. Since a century or so ago, the Chinese also took on Marxism and more recently the principles of the market economy. China’s culture and civilization are fundamentally diversified, inclusive and adaptive.

China’s culture and civilization historically have radiated into many parts of East Asia and became the norm in this region. Though less in intensity, China’s influence with the central and western parts of Eurasia was also prevalent, primarily through the ancient trade over the Silk Road, both overland and maritime.

After almost 300 years of the rise of the West, the world is now readjusting itself into one that is reverting to a certain degree of multipolarity.

While most of the institutions that were built by the West — particularly since World War II — will stay, their roles and the key powers behind them probably will evolve. Elements of a new world order will emerge. Initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the New Development Bank, and the International Organization for Mediation have been built. In this new world, the role of China is becoming more important. While there will be countries that may not feel comfortable with this, increasingly, more countries especially those from the Global South, are coming along with China.

Regardless of how many attempts some countries have made to “decouple”, “de-risk” or to “build small yards and high fences”, today’s world is intricately interconnected because of globalization, technology development and human preference for connectivity

As countries in the Global South, especially those that are more affluent, search for ways to develop their own economies and industries, they will have a choice between the Western model and now the Chinese model. While the West has laid the groundwork for many years across many sectors, China has emerged recently and offers alternative development models, especially in manufacturing, mobility, new energy, e-commerce, artificial intelligence and its applications, and broader technological innovation.

Amid rising global uncertainty, from 2021 to 2023, China has put forward and started to implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative, offering the Chinese ways of thinking and solutions to addressing global challenges. At the same time, it has actively contributed to global climate governance, fulfilled its commitment to the Paris Agreement, and introduced the Global AI Governance Initiative in 2023 and the AI Capacity-Building Action Plan for Good and for All in 2024. While the rolling out of such initiatives is underway, it is fair to say that China is playing an increasingly important role in defining behavioral norms for the world.

Over the last several decades, China has joined the United Nations, the World Bank, the World Health Organization, and the World Trade Organization, and other multilateral organizations, playing important roles in these institutions. In the early 1990s, China began to immerse itself in the globalization process, which started to intensify and spread.

China also played a crucial role in BRICS, which now includes over 40 percent of the world’s population and 37 percent of the world’s GDP by purchasing power parity (PPP). By comparison, the Group of Seven bloc has 10 percent of the world’s population and 28 percent of the world’s GDP by PPP. Some people have started to call the Global South countries, or its proxy — the BRICS countries — the “global majority”.

And the gaps are widening.

According to a survey conducted by Morning Consult, China has for the first time exceeded the US in terms of global favorability since March 2025.

So, is China “the others”? Does the majority of the rest of world really feel uncomfortable with China and what it represents?

I am sure there are still many of these concerns. But to assume that was, is and will continue to be the case, I think that will not be a good assumption to hold.

For many in the West, China’s emergence was an aberration. They believe that China was able to rise only because the West allowed it, and somehow the West had taken its eyes off China.

The great majority of people in China or of Chinese descent, however, believe that China has been a (or “the”) dominating power in the world (or at least in the Asian region) for most part of the country’s long history. While China faced plenty of challenges over the last 200 years, its recent rise is in fact a rejuvenation of China — that China is returning to the rightful position it has held historically.

And against this backdrop was China’s long history, culture and civilization, as well as the performance and behavior of the Western countries over the last couple of centuries, especially during the last decade or so. These experiences, both good and bad, offer Chinese political leadership much to reflect upon as they make decisions on their own strategic choices. These experiences were also instrumental in shaping the Chinese people’s collective will in their wish (and demand) for China’s political leadership in leading the nation in its search for China’s modernity.

Regardless of how many attempts some countries have made to “decouple”, “de-risk” or to “build small yards and high fences”, today’s world is intricately interconnected because of globalization, technology development and human preference for connectivity. While China has its own consideration for its national security, as with other nations, it is also a major force in driving the connectivity of the world. China’s ability to continue to grow, massively innovate and significantly strengthen its global supply chain position, despite sanctions and tariffs, and hugely improve its environment despite a highly volatile and uncertain environment speak volumes for the Chinese system’s innate resilience.

Is China “the others”? Or is it actually becoming the core of the new world into which we are entering? This is not a trivial question, but rather something for which one’s perspective on its answer could lead to important consequences.

The author is founder and CEO of Gao Feng Advisory Co, a strategy and management consulting firm with roots in China.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.