Soft power: China's first lady Peng Liyuan has again shown that spouses of leaders are valuable national assets
If President Xi Jinping's state visit to Britain has not entirely bought over its preternaturally critical press, the first lady, Peng Liyuan , struck all the right notes on Fleet Street.
The Daily Mail described her as "the glamorous 52-year-old", while The Daily Telegraph positively swooned over her. "A master in the art of diplomatic dressing," the newspaper wrote, "Madame Peng is not just holding her own, but helping to define the new world-facing image of China."
READ MORE: Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan’s charm offensive wows the world but disguises a harsher reality, critics say
Unlike the wives of previous Chinese leaders, Peng's star qualities give her global appeal. She held her own last year when she hosted the equally glamorous American first lady Michelle Obama in Beijing while their husbands negotiated in the Netherlands.
During the first couple's state visits around the world, there is inevitably as much interest in Peng's fashion as Xi's agenda.
A Unesco special envoy for female education, Peng impressed her hosts at the United Nations in New York last month with a speech in perfect English on the importance of education for women. She is also the World Health Organisation's goodwill ambassador for tuberculosis and HIV/Aids.