"A poor country cannot afford such a global cultural infrastructure, but as it climbs the development ladder, China can and will," writes Martin Jacques in the updated edition of his book "When China Rules the World".
Jacques, a senior visiting fellow at the London School of Economics, argues that the Asian tiger's growing global influence will be based on a range of different but interconnected forms of power - both economic and cultural.
The Beijing Olympics, the Shanghai Expo, the growing number of impressive international channels offered by CCTV and the establishment of hundreds of Confucius Institutes around the world to teach and promote Mandarin are part of what might be described as China's 'going out' cultural strategy.
In recent years there have been a series of big-budget, blockbuster Chinese movies like "Hero", "Crouching Tiger", "Hidden Dragon", "House of Flying Daggers" which have been huge box office successes even in the West.
Chinese film directors like Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, actors like Gong Li, Let Li and Jackie Chan are becoming globally popular.
"In the longer run, the Chinese film industry is likely to challenge the global hegemony of Hollywood and also embody a distinctive set of values," the author says predicting that Chinese companies will one day acquire Hollywood studios. (MORE)