With the deepening of China’s reform and opening up and the growing of China’s national strength, especially with the expansion of China’s cultural exchanges with other countries, China’s soft power - including cultural attraction, institutional influence and discursive power at the global level - has been significantly increased. However, from the perspective of soft power competition within the international community, the ascent of China has caused panic and vigilance among some countries. “Chinese civilization threat” has been repeatedly presented. This paper emphasizes that the route of socialism with Chinese characteristics has broken the reality of Western capitalist road as the only possibility, while the guiding ideology of Marxism has smashed the monopoly of the capitalist ideology. Instead of a threat to the world, the growth of China’s soft power enriches the diversity of world civilization, helps with the development of human civilization, and will ultimately benefit the free and overall development of human being.

Editor: zhang Jiangang