"People in the past tended to pay more attention to ethics. As a result, social injustice was less a problem than today. Now in restaurants, it is common to see guests shouting at young waitresses, obviously in belief that they are superior."

Reform and opening up have brought about progress, but also a wider wealth gap and social injustice, he said.

In addition, China faces new challenges in terms of social welfares, environment and social order. "When I was at Peking University, people even didn't have to lock up their bikes when they were parking them. Today, it is a different story."

As a Sinologist, Van Crevel feels there is an increasing interest in China by outsiders. In 1986, Peking University had about 400 international students. Now, the number has risen to 3,000. At Leiden, one of the first European universities to teach the Chinese language, 140 students applied for the course in 2007, a record number.

Despite the increase of interest in China, ordinary Dutch people still know little about the country, he said. "I hope more and more Dutch people will pay attention to China and that my faculty will have more and more students," said Van Crevel.

Editor:Du Xiaodan