Preface Understanding a New China and a New World

Liu Debin^[1]

The relationship between China and the world is undergoing a historical transformation. This transformation is nurtured by world economic and resources allocation，approaches to growth and balance among great powers in face of China’s economic growth，and also generated by the changing economic，political and security structures in the context of the changing position of China in world affairs. Many scholarly accounts and media stories shifted from “China collapse” to “China threat”，or from “China as stakeholder” to “China rules the world”. Meanwhile，international academic and media try to explain the world from the perspectives of “end of history，”“clash of civilizations，” the world of “empire，”“post-American world，”“a world of regions，”“an uncertain world，”“the world is flat，” the world is over and “the emerging markets century，” and so forth. As a matter of fact，when the world is facing up to a new China，China also has to face its the new world. Fighting its way out of a hundred years of decline and decay，China has rid herself of widespread poverty and the label of backwardness. As a rejuvenated civilization and an emerging power，China has started to merge with the world，and bring changes to the world as well. As for the world，after decades of de-colonization，the Cold War，and the persistent waves of economic globalization，a historical change has occurred especially in economic and political domains. Western/U.S. dominance still exists，though it is warning a large group of emerging powers has become the engine of the world economy. At the same time，many developing countries are now under the pressure of modernization，while the ethnic and religious conflicts that had taken place in their lands are fueling a new round of regional instability. Once again，the world has entered an era of unrest and reshaping.

Even though the relations between China and the world have just started to change，their past and future might go way beyond our imagination. A lot of efforts have been made to explain the changes，but the Chinese people have just set out in recognizing our own historical evolution and the relations between Chinese history and world history. We may scorn “China collapse” and “China threat，” or cast doubt on “China as stakeholder” and “China rules the world，” and sense the biases to which we are subject，however，when the world was shaken and shocked by so many unexpected events in front of our eyes，we found that our knowledge about her is far from being sufficient. The world we perceive today is no longer the one three decades ago，and we need to find a new angle to look at it and ourselves.

“Made in China” products with attractive prices and quality have taken over supermarkets and grocery stores all over the world；Chinese language teachers and volunteers have backpacked into even the most outlying village schools in Africa. China and the world are drawing closer than ever before，and China’s national interests have largely globalized. However，we still don’t know much about the world. World history will enter an era of drastic transformation when China is one of the driving forces. The gap of “modernity” （近代and现代） between Chinese history and world history could be lessened through this transformation，and the innovations from Chinese social sciences may find a new starting point here. It is not any single discipline’s responsibility to explore the transformation，which is certainly not a topic confined to academia；similarly，this transformation is neither a story of one generation，nor a task to be accomplished within a year or two. The mission for China and the world is to establish a platform for discussion，communication and dialogue for a better understanding of this great transformation. As editor-in-chief，I sincerely welcome any intellectual contribution to invigorate and inspire further studies of the dynamic relations between the new China and the new world.

[1] Liu Debin，Professor of History and International Studies，Dean of the School of International and Public Affairs，Jilin University.