Foreigners learn secrets of China's success

Since last year, additional lectures have been provided upon request throughout the program. "Some trainees want to learn more about China's poverty-alleviation efforts, so we have added a lecture about that," Liu Gang said.

Jacobo Dominguez Gudini, a consultant for the Organization of American States in Mexico, was keen to learn more about China's measures and systems to eradicate corruption. "It will be helpful for Latin American countries, where the battle against corruption is tough," he said.

Liu Gang said that in the past civil servants from China were sent to developed countries to learn about their experiences, and it was rare for administrators from developed countries to travel to China to participate in courses.

The situation started to change in October 2011, when a group of civil servants from France, including high-level policymakers and provincial heads, took part in the academy's program.

The move came at a time when many developed countries were experiencing slower growth, but China's economy was booming. The officials were interested to know how that was being achieved, according to Liu Gang.

"For them, China's own development path suddenly deserved attention, and was as valuable as the experiences of developed countries," he said.

Since 2012, the academy's courses have attracted civil servants from the European Union, Italy, Australia and New Zealand.

In December 2010, Shao Wenhai, former head of the academy's training center accompanied President Xi Jinping, who was vice-president at the time, when he sat in on a class designed to help civil servants from developing countries to better react to natural disasters.

Xi told the trainees that he had met with the leaders of a number of developing countries, and they had expressed the hope that more of their civil servants could be trained in China. As a result, Xi encouraged the academy to organize more training programs for civil servants from both developing and developed countries so they could get a better understanding of China.

Shao said most of the trainees make their first trips to China to attend the academy's programs. Chinese culture is one of the most popular courses, and deeper knowledge of the subject can help the students to gain a better understanding of Chinese people's attitudes and core values.

"The majority want to learn about three key things: the country's cultural diversity; China's development; and the benefits of cooperating with China. Now, the academy is much more confident about organizing training programs for foreign civil servants than when it first started because we are more confident about the path of development, which has helped China to become stronger," he added.

Texious Masoamphambe, chief resident magistrate of the judiciary in Malawi, said, "China's achievements have made African countries see new possibilities in our own development, and that's why we are eager to learn more about China."

Shao said that in addition to helping foreign civil servants become more familiar with China's political and social systems, the program aims to clear up misunderstandings, such as whether China is a developing country and if it will seek hegemony once it becomes stronger. Many of these misunderstandings are the result of a lack of understanding of China and misleading media reports.