Some say China remains limited in its global role

In some countries that have profited greatly from Chinese investment and raw materials purchases, there are signs of irritation at the speed and scale of the growth of the Chinese presence with South African President Jacob Zuma, for instance, speaking of the need to find "the means toward a more equitable balance of trade".

For all the large sums spent on "soft power", one may ask how much real attachment it has brought. There are few Chinese international role models and demonstrators in the Middle East do not clamor to follow a Chinese path.

The difficulty in discerning a clear line in foreign policy of the world's second-biggest economy might not matter too much if China was an isolated actor on the world stage. But it is not.

Because the country, which has benefited from globalization, is bound in with other nations. President Xi Jinping has proclaimed the "Chinese Dream" of national rejuvenation, but this cannot be played out by China on its own.

China's reluctance to take on obligations beyond its immediate needs or to craft a broader foreign policy may seem at first glance sensible as it concentrates on domestic challenges and given its suspicions that the United States is trying to contain China helped by allies such as Japan and the Philippines.

Global entanglements can be trying. But the result is that, for all the jeremiads about declining US international authority and the troubles of the eurozone, China remains limited in its global role, acting only when it sees fit and not committing itself beyond what is strictly necessary - with all the interrogations to which that gives rise.

In an inter-connected world, that leaves a significant gap, which complicates international relations and renders the development of a truly multilateral global framework even more difficult than it already is.

Jonathan Fenby is the author of seven books on China, including the recent Tiger Head, Snake Tails and China Today.