"The more I come to China, the more I become frustrated with the simplistic, naive and stereotyped view of China when I go back to the United States," said Robert Lawrence Kuhn, author of the book "The Man Who Changed China: The Life and Legacy of Jiang Zemin."

Many Westerners do not know much about China, viewing the current China as it was 25 or 30 years ago, said Kuhn when talking about his book on Jiang with Chinese readers at the on-going 15th National Book Fair of China in Tianjin, a port city in north China.

In the eyes of many westerners, he said, China is either backward or gloomy -- totally different from the China he has seen with his own eyes.

Out of his frustration, Kuhn embarked on a range of programs to introduce the real China to people in western countries including his first book concerning China, "Made in China," and a 90-minute English TV series "In Search of China: Voices from the New Revolution."

But none of his works has been as influential as his latest book on Jiang. Kuhn spent four years on the book, which tells the life story of Jiang Zemin through the eyes of a foreigner. To date, more than one million copies of the Chinese edition of the book have been sold.

He said he wrote the book to introduce the true story of China to the world, adding that understanding the history of a person and changes of China over the past 70 to 80 years is essential for Westerners to have a better understanding of the current China.

During the last four years, Kuhn committed himself to collecting first-hand information about Jiang by conducting interviews with his former classmates, family members and associates who had worked with him at different times.

The book has triggered great interest among Chinese readers. A student surnamed Zhu from Tianjin's top Nankai University said, "This book is fairly detailed and readable for Westerners, especially Americans, who want to know the true story of China."

Kuhn said his book has been published in English, Chinese and Korean and will be published in German, Japanese, Italian and Spanish in the years ahead.

He said he hoped that the whole world, especially America, would learn more about current China and discard its stereotyped and negative image of China through reading his book.

A managing director at Smith Barney Citigroup, an investment banker, a corporate strategist, an author and an editor, Kuhn has served as a adviser for Chinese ranking officials and business people on economic policies, requisition, science and media since 1989.

Editor: Wing