Xi to use wife in Chinese charm offensive US presidents have long deployed their wives to broaden their appeal, but China now appears to be jumping on the bandwagon. When Xi Jinping, who becomes Chinese president on Thursday, travels to South Africa later this month, he will deploy his folk singer wife Peng Liyuan as part of a charm offensive to build Chinese "soft power." Ms Peng, famous in China for her fiery performances of patriotic songs, will have her own speaking engagement when Mr Xi attends the Brics summit in South Africa, three people familiar with the plans told the Financial Times. "She will make an independent appearance," said a friend of Ms Peng. "She can help China build soft power," said another person briefed on the plans for the trip. The move underscores the sense that Mr Xi is treading a different path from his predecessor Hu Jintao who was known for his stiff and scripted approach. Ms Peng could become the only Chinese first lady to take a significant international role since Soong May-ling, the wife of Republic of China President Chiang Kai-shek, helped her husband secure US support for his crumbling regime during the second world war. Jiang Qing, the Shanghai starlet who became Mao Zedong's fourth wife, became a powerful political figure at home. But after the Communist party purged her and her associates following the murderous Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 70s, the wives of Chinese leaders became almost invisible. From John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama, US presidents have used their spouses to help improve their image at home and abroad. But the decision by Mr Xi to break with Chinese tradition signals his recognition that China must find new ways to make friends, as its global rise triggers fear and suspicion around the world. "Just as China needs to learn more about the world, so does the world need to learn more about China," Mr Xi said in November in his first speech after becoming head of the Communist party. Under the decade-long tenure of Mr Hu, China became a global power faster than many expected. It gained influence and confidence as its economy soared - overtaking Japan to become the world's second largest - while the US and Europe were shaken by financial crises. But over the same period, China's neighbours have become more concerned about its growing naval presence and increasingly assertive stance on territorial disputes. Meanwhile, the US frets about Chinese cyber attacks and intellectual property theft, while China's growing presence in Africa has provoked fears that its hunger for resources could undermine local development and the environment. Alistair Michie, a British citizen who advises Chinese officials on public diplomacy, said China has "not been telling its story" and that Mr Xi plans to tackle that issue. "His foreign policy will be markedly different in style - you can already tell from his intolerance for bureaucracy and his propensity for decision making," said Mr Michie. He can be a catalyst for change throughout the foreign policy apparatus.