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LONDON -- China is set to make 2008 the year it asserts its status as a global colossus by flexing economic muscles on international markets and exhibiting its cultural richness, The Independent newspaper said on Tuesday.
"The world's most populous nation will mark the next 12 months with a coming-of-age party that will confirm its transformation in three decades from one of the poorest countries of the 20th century into the globe's third-largest economy, its hungriest consumer and the engine room of economic growth," the daily said in an article.
It said that China enjoys uNPRecedented levels of domestic consumption and showcases itself to a watching world with a glittering 20 billion pound ($40 billion) Olympic Games.
China's trade surplus with the rest of the world will widen from 130 billion pounds ($260 billion) in 2007 to 145 billion pounds ($290 billion) this year, the paper said.
The paper said China is set to grow in the next year by something like 10 percent and contribute more to world economic growth than the United States in 2008.
The paper also expressed worries about the challenges China faces in social and economic life like the rich-poor gap and inflation.
Culturally, China will remind the world of its rich legacy of music, dance and visual arts with a new wave of Chinese creativity in Britain, it said.
The Chinese New Year on February 7 will herald the beginning of the largest-ever festival of China's culture in Britain with an accent on contemporary artists in fields from video art to neon signs.