China as a place of isolation hiding from the world behind a great wall - an image which has become exposed as a pejorative cliché. However, The opposite is the case: The country has been immersed in transnational and transcultural exchange for centuries. China was, is and will be part of a global context. This volume sheds new light on the dimensions of China's continuous engagement with the world: as an inspiration for European garden designers, as a participant in global dialogue on culture, law and innovative technology, as a destination for academics, business leaders and refugees, but also - and increasingly so - as a powerful political actor in Asia and throughout the world.