Kerry Brown [File photo from web]

Leading China expert Kerry Brown, director of the Lau Institute at King's College London and author of the new book China's World about China's increasing global role, described China as "dynamic", "complex" and "aspirational".

He said he wanted the words to reflect just how important China is to the rest of the world.

"China has a new role. Domestic issues are global because of their size and scale," he replied.

Scott Kennedy, deputy director of the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, was one of those who said it was difficult to avoid the word "big" when it came to China, although he also went for "competitive" and "offering variety", the last choice taking into account the diversity of the country.

"China is big. It's not just big geographically and in terms of its number of people but also on its effect on the global economy, markets and security issues. Anything you study about China has to start with its size," he responded. David Lampton, former president of the National Committee on United States-China Relations and now a Sinologist at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, went for "leaders" as well as "complicated" and "expectations".

"Leaders matter and I think with Xi we are seeing the rise of a leader in China who will make a big difference," he responded.

Sir Gerry Grimstone, chairman of Standard Life, the UK insurance company, and former chairman of The-CityUK, a trade body for the UK's financial services sector, stressed "opportunity" as well as "exciting" and "powerful", because of the potential for UK-China business following Xi's state visit to the UK in October 2015.

"The visit marked an improvement in the relations between the two countries and the beginning of a new 'golden era' of cooperation," he responded.