To sum up, the main goals behind China´s current soft power strategy are to make the European leaders understand that the Chinese model is not superior to other models, but it fits the best to the Chinese circumstances . The application of Li & Worm´s (2010) integrative model of soft power implies the investigation of the Sino-German bilateral relations from high, middle and low levels of communication. With regard to addressing the political elites, - as already discussed under the bilateral relations – there are currently more than 60 bilateral mechanisms, many of them between line ministers, state secretaries and heads of government authorities . The agenda for intergovernmental consultations includes environmental and economic issues, social development, education, science, research and civil society exchange. Consequently, the soft power within formal diplomacy relies on the capacities of economic temptation, culture, political values and with China´s growing international presence, the bilateral relations are also increasingly shaped by China´s international image. The second level of soft power reaches the interest groups. Interest groups can be defined as a non-profit and frequently voluntary whose members are working for a common cause by influencing public policy . As shown on the Figure below, over the past 25 year the number of registered NGOs in China reached over 500000 . Figure 5 Number of registered NGOs in China. Source: – In order to foster and manage the cooperation between these NGOs, the China Association for NGO Cooperation (CANGO) was created in 1992. The mission of the non-profit organization is to promote China´s civil society development and to provide a platform for information sharing. In order to perform these tasks, CANGO maintains relations with more than 170 foreign NGOs, among which 4 are Germans: EED, Federal Ministry for Economic and Cooperation and Development, Heinrich Boell Foundation and Misereor. These relations are centered on environmental protection, social, economic and political development . Furthermore, there are a number of other Sino-German NGOs working together especially on environmental protection and human rights issues, however, currently, there are no official statistics on this matter, therefore their reach and importance cannot be examined .
To sum up, the main goals behind China´s current soft power strategy are to make the European leaders understand that the Chinese model is not superior to other models, but it fits the best to the Chinese circumstances . The application of Li & Worm´s (2010) integrative model of soft power implies the investigation of the Sino-German bilateral relations from high, middle and low levels of communication. With regard to addressing the political elites, - as already discussed under the bilateral relations – there are currently more than 60 bilateral mechanisms, many of them between line ministers, state secretaries and heads of government authorities . The agenda for intergovernmental consultations includes environmental and economic issues, social development, education, science, research and civil society exchange. Consequently, the soft power within formal diplomacy relies on the capacities of economic temptation, culture, political values and with China´s growing international presence, the bilateral relations are also increasingly shaped by China´s international image. The second level of soft power reaches the interest groups. Interest groups can be defined as a non-profit and frequently voluntary whose members are working for a common cause by influencing public policy . As shown on the Figure below, over the past 25 year the number of registered NGOs in China reached over 500000 . Figure 5 – Number of registered NGOs in China. Source: In order to foster and manage the cooperation between these NGOs, the China Association for NGO Cooperation (CANGO) was created in 1992. The mission of the non-profit organization is to promote China´s civil society development and to provide a platform for information sharing. In order to perform these tasks, CANGO maintains relations with more than 170 foreign NGOs, among which 4 are Germans: EED, Federal Ministry for Economic and Cooperation and Development, Heinrich Boell Foundation and Misereor. These relations are centered on environmental protection, social, economic and political development . Furthermore, there are a number of other Sino-German NGOs working together especially on environmental protection and human rights issues, however, currently, there are no official statistics on this matter, therefore their reach and importance cannot be examined .
China_s_soft_power.docx