Looking back on the nation's 60 years of tremendous changes, it's evident that foreigners have been much more than witnesses in the development of the People's Republic of China.

Whether intentionally or accidentally, directly or indirectly, positively or negatively, they have become important pieces of the China puzzle – helping shape and globalize the nation, and they are regarded as the "most influential foreigners" who are identified among 200 candidates suggested by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

From Asia, Europe, America and Africa, the 60 foreigners have played their part in more than 300 years of history, from the Newtonian era to modern times. They comprise 20 political and military leaders, 17 cultural and philosophical experts, nine economic and entrepreneurial professionals, eight sports/entertainment figures and six inventors.

Marx and Lenin enlightened China; Richard Nixon and former Singapore president Lee Kuan Yew promoted China; Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton have impressed generations of Chinese; and Michael Jordan and Bill Gates became idols of young Chinese, to name a few.

These foreigners and many others have helped push China forward in areas of politics, economics, culture, science, and even the way Chinese think and live.

Of the 60 most influential foreigners, some are hardly known outside of China, while others seem even less known by ordinary Chinese. All have played a vital role in China's 60 years of development, say the experts.

The 60 are not ranked, but arranged according to birthdates. Regardless of name recognition or celebrity status, the Chinese experts interviewed all agreed these foreigners had exerted their own profound impact upon New China.

Interestingly, among all the 60, there is only one woman: Margaret Thatcher, the "Iron Lady" of Great Britain.

Zhang Yiwu, a professor at Beijing University, said that the foreigners could be classified into three types: the first type is those who are symbolic of Western civilization such as Newton, philosopher Jean- Jacques Rousseau and Ludwig van Beethoven. They are the driving force of human civilization and still exert great influence on the world of today.

The second type are those closely related to China's global strategy after China won an important position in the international community such as Henry Kissinger and former Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka.

The third type are those who have influenced Chinese society after China began reform and opening-up, such as fashion designer Pierre Cardin, Bill Gates and Michael Jackson. They are mostly entrepreneurs and celebrities in the entertainment or sports fields, and have changed Chinese people's way of living and values.

"This list shows how Chinese society has changed," Zhang said. In the last six decades, Chinese society has transformed from a politics-centered to an economy-oriented culture. Of the 60 people, the big political and military names can be found in nearly every important period of history, but the Cold War period contains the most, with Truman and Stalin symbolic of that period.

Economically, the most influential people would be found after the 1980s.

"Armand Hammer, Boeing and Panasonic were the earliest big names. Then Bill Gates and Berners-Lee followed, driving the information revolution. Then there were financial investors such as Soros and Buffet. The development of the Chinese economy can be clearly observed on this list," Zhang said.

In the 60 foreigners, scientists are mostly chosen from the past. "Before industrialization, scientific inventions deeply depended on individual genius," said Jin Canrong, vice-director of the School of International Studies of Renmin University of China.

"In applying scientific and technological achievements to industrialized society, individuals have played a weaker role in invention."

Most scientific innovation is now a more systematic process involving corporate backing, making it hard to throw up a genius. In the cultural and philosophical fields, the chosen foreigners also come from an older era. Jin said recognition for individual achievement in culture must stand the test of time. "Time selects the superior and eliminates the inferior, choosing the thoughts which impact upon human civilization in the long term," he said.

Foreigners from the entertainment and sports world all come after reform opening-up.

"Thirty years reform and opening-up has brought China a booming economy and opening culture. People started to consume culture as entertainment," Zhang said. "Chinese people are not only citizens, but also consumers and people enjoy entertainment."

He said Chinese people have multiple identities and their life has become more adaptable and energetic. From this point of view, reform and opening-up has deeply influenced China.

Moving from East to West: how China's world view has altered

Modernization, according to Professor Jin Canrong, takes two paths: The first is an inward pattern in which modernization is driven by domestic powers. The country adopting this pattern modernizes through assistance from domestic elites. The second type follows an outward pattern. Countries with this pattern usually fall behind in modernization. And they yearn for outward assistance in their arrangement of the ideological and political system, economic development and people's livelihood.

"China belongs to the second type," Jin argued. "Western countries, the US in particular, represent modern thinking and lifestyle. So in the name lists, you will see an increasing number of Americans which echoes the fact that China, as a latecomer to modernization, is continually learning from the outside world in its process of transforming from an agricultural society into an industrialized society".

"Spatially speaking, the global influence on China is heading from East to West. The most influential foreigner evolves from the Soviet Union and East Europe gradually to the US," Zhang said.

On the list, you will find Russians like Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev and Ivan Arkhipov and other leaders of the Soviet Union cast a heavy influence on the Chinese in the 1950s and 1960s. Leaders from the Third World like Nehru, Tito and Ho Chi Minh also formed close relationships with China.

After China's reform and opening-up, Soviet Union and Eastern European influence gradually weakened, with fewer names from Asia, Africa and Latin America appearing on the list.

The influence of Third World countries faded. At the same time, Western influence deepened. This change reflects the reshuffling of the international order after the Cold War.

Zhang also said that we could see in this list of the last 60 years, competition in the international community has transformed from political and military to economic, social and development. The field of international competition is broadening from purely political to overall competition: military, corporate, entertainment and sports. Some less mainstream Western ideas, such as Nietzsche and so on, have begun to exert an impact on China. Founder of modern Chinese studies in the United States, John King Fairbank and other outside experts have exerted a real impact since the 1980s.

"It also reflects that Chinese people have begun to care how the world sees them," Zhang Yiwu said.

Evocative memories of a particular era

Disputes were inevitable during the selection process, although some candidates were not disputed. Lenin got the largest online vote, for example. David Beckham also received many votes, a reflection of the youthful character of the Internet. But so as not to miss out on influential but lesser-known candidates, the opinion of experts was weighed into the final consideration.

"This list must represent China's valuation of foreigners," said Shen Jiru, a researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times. Some in the current list are debatable, he said.

A significant part of the selection came from web users, he claimed, and public opinion is also equipped with great uncertainty.

"There are foreigners who impressed Chinese people in every era, like Nikolai Ostrovsky and How the Steel Was Tempered (The Making of a Hero). That novel really hits Chinese people deep in the soul," said Lu Jiande, vice-director of the Institute of Foreign Literature under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"The list of foreigners should focus on how they influence New China and should evoke Chinese people's memories of a certain period."

"People's hearts will flutter and their thoughts wander back to a certain era when they read some of these names," Lu said. "If the person who makes the list really comprehends that span."

Source: Global Times