What $40 billion gets you these days

Well, for one, we guess it gets you the Olympics in Beijing. And loads of infrastructural upgrades. But China was banking on the Olympics for an image makeover, and judging by Futurebrand's 2008 Country Brand Index, the results were at least somewhat encouraging. China placed 56th out of the 78 countries ranked, with 29% of respondents giving the country a "very good" or "excellent" overall rating. It did, however, make the biggest gains in overall brand rating, improving by a full 13%.

The Index reported that China's brand showed a "comparative lack of maturity", but looking forward, they also "expect the complete Olympic experience to propel Brand China to a higher ranking overall and also in specific areas such as environmentalism, infrastructure and economic standard of living."

In the ranking breakdowns, China ranked 10th in Authenticity, 7th in History, and 9th in Art and Culture. Additionally, it finished at the top of the heap in the "Most Impressive" and "Rising Star" categories, giving it lots of cred as a major up-and-coming tourist destination. Shockingly, China did not place in the top 10 in either the Environmentalism or Political Freedom categories.

Also of note is the fact that Australia was named the best-branded country; its high ranking has in the past been attributed to its successful experience as Olympic hosts in 2000.