China's reforms and opening-up polices during the past three decades have not only contributed to its own prosperity, but also created strong impetus for the global economy, a Swedish expert said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Johan Lagerkvist, a China expert with the Swedish Institute for International Affairs, said that China has undergone enormous changes since the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping initiated the reform and opening-up drive in 1978.

The country has now returned to the world's limelight after 30 years of remarkable development, the expert said.

"Never before have we been so closely engaged with China, which is now unleashing its vitality in various fields, such as politics, economy and culture," Lagerkvist said.

"A China fever has swept through various regions in the western world again, as people there are getting fascinated with China's tradition, arts, design, fashion and movies," he said.

Impressed by China's astonishing speed of development and growth rate,leaders of many developing countries are considering ways to learn from its experience, Lagerkvist told Xinhua.

Following the Chinese model of development, some countries neighboring China have already embarked on the road of reform and opening-up, he noted.

Hailing China's remarkable socio-economic progress, Lagerkvist said that the significant changes in China also have profoundly influenced the whole world in many aspects.

"What has made the world feel the biggest impact of China is the country's rapid economic growth," he said.

China's robust economic development has not only made its own people richer, it has also become a major driving force behind the world's economic growth, he said.

For example, he said, China's great demand for imports has created a lot of job opportunities in many countries worldwide.

In Lagerkvist's view, China now is playing a big role in international affairs and will play a larger part in the future. He also said the country has grown into a more and more responsible world power.

"During the process of globalization, China has already grown from a 'irrelevant figure' into a key player in the world arena," said Lagerkvist, who last year published the book "China Amid Globalization."

China has gradually integrated itself into the global economic system, and countries worldwide need to find new ways to get along with the emerging power, he said.

"Nowadays, China's economy can't do without the world, and vice versa," he said.

Though the international community takes different views toward a rising China, Lagerkvist believed the country's progress is a good thing for the world.

"As we can see in the past years, China has been devoting greater efforts and playing an increasingly important role in international affairs" such as in safeguarding world peace and security and combating climate change, Lagerkvist said.

With an image of a responsible big power, China has also actively participated in international peacekeeping missions in Haiti, and Lebanon as well as in many African countries, he added.

However, Lagerkvist said China is still facing many challenges and restrictions on its development, "such as finding ways to accelerate its political reform and realize a sustainable economic growth, and seeking solutions to social disparity."

(Xinhua News Agency November 26, 2008)