Sports Performance and Shaping International Image of a China: Towards Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

China is a country that has been using sport in order to reach political goals for many years. Lately such political exploitation of sport is directed at shaping the desirable international image of this country. This is done most of all through hosting sports events, but also through sports victories. The last aspect is the subject of this research. The aim of the article is therefore to investigate the issue of utilization of performance in international sport in order to enhance international image of a China. The research presented in the article is a case study concerning sport as a tool of nation-branding. Its main objective is to analyse motivation of China’s decision-makers to use sports performance in order to enhance the country’s international perception, and to observe how this goals is executed. The main hypothesis to be tested states that China perceives sports performance as an important tool of enhancing its international image.