CHINA: THIRD POWER ?

The aim of the paper is to indicate China as the emerging superpower on a global scale whose economy is entering the group of countries deciding abort the economic condition of the whole world. The analysis is based on the assessment of statistical data of the Chinese economy and demographic forecasts combined with the elements of 'civilization code' as present in the history of China. The analysis results indicate that the appearance of China on the contemporary world arena is not a new phenomenon but a continuation of the county's position from the period of its European expansion. So far, China has been classified as an underdeveloped country (Third World country) which resulted from a temporary collapse of Chinese economy and Chinese society in the 19th and 20th centuries. The paper aims to indicate the necessity of giving up the Western European perspective in analyzing the phenomenon of contemporary China and the necessity of focusing on the attempt to understand the laws governing the Chinese society typical of the Chinese way of world perception. From this point of view it becomes obvious that the rest of the world is not threatened by the Chinese aspiration in the future 'clash of civilizations' as anticipated by the 'Huntington paradigm'.