Cai yesterday pledged to give full play to his experience in his new job.

"Promoting cultural exchanges with other countries is one of the major missions of the culture ministry," he said. "I believe my experience in foreign exchanges will be of help to my new work."

Cai, however, acknowledged that some challenges lie ahead. "The biggest is that I am a layman in culture," he said modestly. "I need to learn a lot to adapt to the new role as soon as possible."

But he is well aware of the importance of culture - two years ago, Cai underscored one of the challenges for the Ministry of Culture: To build China's soft power through the promotion of Chinese culture.

"To strengthen the appeal and influence of Chinese culture is crucial to building the country's soft power," he said in a speech in 2006.

A good start is half the job done, they say. Cai has only the other half to complete.

(China Daily March 18, 2008)