A NEW school of thought is emerging on what a country needs to grow economically.

And leading it is China, which will use the upcoming Olympics Games as a platform to get across its message on growth, said Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

In highlighting the China model, he said: 'There is now growing a certain Beijing Consensus that is different from the Washington Consensus: What is it you need to grow?

This is a shift from the development model touted by the United States since the early 1990s, which stresses open economies and minimal state intervention, and is based on the superiority of democratic politics.

Mr Lee described the China phenomenon in an interview last Tuesday with Bloomberg News, the transcript of which was released by his office on Tuesday.

He noted that China has been conveying its message on the attributes for growth to leaders around the world and 'the Olympics will be another occasion'.

During the interview, Mr Lee spoke on issues both local and global - ranging from Singapore's political-succession challenge, to China's handling of the Tibet issue.

While he commented favourably on what he anticipates will be an Olympic Games of 'world standards', he was critical of the way China had handled the Tibet protests.

For instance, it ordered the foreign media out of Tibet when riots started in March.

'Had they engaged the West, all this would have turned out differently,' said Mr Lee, referring to the protests that dogged the global Olympic torch relay.

China, he added, 'should learn to...take the Western media on the Western media's terms'.

But unfortunately, China is still set in its 'old' mindset, in the way it reacts, he said.

'But they're learning.'

Getting out of this mindset is its biggest challenge.