WORKING TOGETHER: Chinese diplomats help farmers put straw into a threshing machine on a North Korean farm on October 30, 2008 (ZHANG BINYANG)

The ministry also has encouraged diplomats posted abroad to be more active in reaching out to local communities, and to help explain to them China's foreign policy and domestic development.

Like the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games before it, the ongoing World Expo in Shanghai has become another highlight of China's public diplomacy.

Twenty heads of state, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak attended the opening ceremony of the World Expo in Shanghai. And more came to attend their respective national pavilion days.

In the two and a half months since the World Expo opened on May 1, more than 40 heads of state and heads of government have visited Shanghai. It is predicted that before the closing ceremony at the end of October, 15 more will come.

Such large-scale and intensified visits of state leaders are rare in the history of the World Expo, as well as a first for Shanghai. Therefore, diplomacy centering on the World Expo in Shanghai has attracted a flood of attention. Just as Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng said, the World Expo is not only a grand stage for the achievements of human civilizations, but also a major platform for international exchanges and dialogues.

Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi identified the World Expo as a diplomatic priority for China in 2010. The Foreign Ministry and its overseas diplomatic missions had been working closely with the Shanghai Municipal Government to help promote the World Expo, he said.