There is no doubt that China has received a lot of less-than-complimentary press in the days and weeks ahead of President Hu Jintao's visit to the White House next week.  But China is countering any anti-China publicity efforts with a pro-China message.

According to the Wall Street Journal, China's State Council Information Office has hired an advertising agency to produce a commercial that will be aired before the Hu-Obama summit in Washington, DC. 

The commercial– “part of our annual working plan,” said an SCIO employee familiar with the effort–is supposed to depict Chinese people from different walks of life, including famous public figures like NBA player Yao Ming. The spot will air in the U.S. first, during Mr. Hu’s visit, followed by Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. It will also be available on the Internet, according to a rreport on government Web portal China.org.cn

Additionally, China has developed a five-year plan to boost their image, including the expansion of "made-in-China" media content and pumping up the number of "Confucious Institutes" which promotes teaching Chinese language and culture in other countries. 

Read more.