Like an actor making his debut in a leading role in a highly anticipated and controversial blockbuster, China shone and deserved rave reviews for its performances at the Group of 20 summit in London last week.
Media accounts of the results of the summit, in which world leaders pledged more than US$1 trillion in loans and guarantees to fight the global recession and agreed to crack down on tax havens and hedge funds, were mixed. China was widely praised for its positive contributions to the enlargement of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) coffers and to discussions about reforming the international financial system.
President Hu Jintao's first meeting with his US counterpart, Barack Obama, led to the announcement of a new strategic and economic dialogue and heralded a new era in bilateral ties. At the same time, Mr Hu's unscheduled meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy was a bonus in the eyes of mainlanders, as France was widely seen to have backed away from its stance on the Tibetan issue.
The G20 summit may be another milestone in the mainland's integration into the international community because it showed that China was ready to play a bigger international role and was starting to speak its mind. It also offered pointers to what China expects the world to be like and the role it envisages for itself.
But Beijing's leaders should not get carried away, particularly by reports that talk of a new world order dominated by the 'G2' of China and the US. While China is rightly seeking to expand its influence, it should know its limits as a developing country with an economy that may be the third-largest in the world but is also deeply unbalanced.
Nonetheless, the significance of China's emergence as a leading actor on the world stage should not be underestimated. Just as its entry to the World Trade Organisation helped deepen China's integration in the global economy and bind it to international rules, its willingness to step up as a world leader means it will have to be more aware of the responsibilities that come with this status.
Beijing made elaborate preparations for its G20 summit appearance and beyond. In the lead-up to the one-day summit, the central bank governor, the foreign-exchange chief, the finance minister and finally Vice-Premier Wang Qishan took turns at articulating a vision of a new monetary order and what China was likely to want and do in the short and long terms.