An innovator, a diplomat and an environmental leader—these are the roles that China is expected to play in the international community.

"I think it's about quality—moving up the value chain and moving away from being the factory of the world to sort of the investor of the world--so, quality not quantity in terms of manufacturing and innovation," Clare Pearson, Chair of the British Chamber of Commerce in China, said on the sidelines of the B20 Summit in Hangzhou on September 3.

The B20 Summit, which gathered business leaders from G20 members, focused on promoting robust, sustainable and balanced growth of the global economy.

In an exclusive interview with Beijing Review, Pearson said China is also willing to share its prosperity along the Belt and Road routes by helping improve the connected countries' physical and metaphorical infrastructure.

Proposed by China in 2013 for the purpose of forging closer ties among Asian, European and African countries by revitalizing ancient trade routes, the Belt and Road Initiative consists of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. Beijing can offer the hardware of the railways and the roads and the software of the global diplomacy, Pearson said.

In addition, Pearson noted that President Xi Jinping has an affinity with the environment. "I think he very much wants to clean the environment and really create a foundation for China's future," she said.

(Reporting from Hangzhou)

Copyedited by Chris Surtees

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