Deng Xiaoping, chief architect of China's reform and opening-up, played a crucial role in the country's relationship with other countries and its growing presence in international affairs.

Deng visited many countries and regions and talked with their leaders，many of whom became his personal friends.

The following are insights into who Deng was through the eyes of foreign leaders and experts.

"He (Deng) did not dwell on what might have been or who was at fault for past errors; as in bridge, which he played regularly, he was ready to play the hand he was dealt."

-- Ezra F.Vogel, author of Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China

"I met many world leaders but never before I met Deng Xiaoping. Deng is different from the others, he is unique."

--- Mike Wallace , US journalist

"He's small, tough, intelligent, frank, courageous, personable, self-assured and friendly. It's a pleasure for me to negotiate with him."

-- Jimmy Carter, former US President

"In current China, it is unimaginable without Deng Xiaoping. It is a case where one man makes a decisive difference.

Almost everything that is happening in the current reform, I have heard him saying at some point 15 years ago. Of course, it has evolved in a way that was unimaginable even when he was still alive.

His contribution to current China is decisive."

-- Henry Kissinger, former US Secretary of State

"Mr. Deng's long life spanned a century of turmoil, tribulation and remarkable change in China.

China today plays an important role in world affairs in no small part because of Mr. Deng's decision to open his country to the outside world."

-- Bill Clinton, former US President

"To the world as a whole, he (Deng) has showed how a country can be handled to get rapid expansion, and how it can make its contribution to the whole world in return."

-- Edward Heath, former British Prime Minister

"In the course of this century, few men have, as much as he, led a vast human community through such profound and determining changes."

-- Jacques Chirac, former French President

"Deng will be remembered in the international community at large as a primary architect of China's modernization and dramatic economic development.

His leadership and reforms have improved the lives of so many of his fellow citizens immeasurably."

-- Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations