The Chinese Panda in Pursuit of Soft Power
The Chinese Panda in Pursuit of Soft Power
China has strategically used media to counter Western influence and strengthen its soft power globally.
During Xi Jinping’s era, Beijing prioritized the internationalization of Chinese media, investing over $6 billion since 2009. The methods China has employed include expanding global state media like CGTN, co-producing with Hollywood, and using cinema to shape narratives. These efforts have enhanced China’s cultural influence and improved its global image.
To counter Western propaganda and dominance, China has begun using media as a weapon to showcase its soft power.
During Xi Jinping’s presidency, China has seen a shift in its media policies, focusing on tactics to shape informational narratives internationally. In this context, the country has made significant investments in the media sector.
Therefore, since 2009, the Chinese government has spent around $66 billion to enhance the country’s global image, undertaking various actions including the internationalization of its media and using cinema and film to promote its propaganda and soft aspects.
Internationalization of Media
In 2009, the Chinese government announced it would accelerate efforts to internationalize Chinese media, allocating around $6 billion to fund the media sector. Consequently, Beijing’s big four media agencies were launched internationally.
Later, when Xi Jinping became president in 2012, their institutionalization increased.
As a result, China’s largest state media companies began setting up offices and hiring journalists worldwide.
For example, CCTV, now CGTN, established an Africa office in 2012. It currently operates 6 channels in 171 countries, broadcasting in Arabic, English, Spanish, and French.
Additionally, it has signed cooperation agreements with 70 foreign media institutions, including BBC Worldwide.
The same applies to other Chinese media. Xinhua News Agency now has 180 international offices, even more than Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse, and publishes in eight international languages.
Similarly, China Radio International (CRI) has become the second-largest radio organization in the world, broadcasting in 65 languages.
Besides expanding its media in other countries, China also conducts exchange programs for foreign journalists from multiple countries and organizes training for them in cities. Most importantly, the Chinese government targets journalists in developing African countries by hiring and training them.
However, the internationalization of Chinese media does not stop there. The country has taken innovative tactics, such as providing state media content to other countries at a lower cost or even for free.
For instance, StarTimes, a Chinese television entity, offers cheap cable TV packages to 30 African countries with Chinese state TV channels. Additionally, Chinese companies have bought shares in local media entities in other countries to spread their message and disseminate pro-China content.
For example, a Chinese news agency, GBTimes, acquired shares in radio stations in Europe.
Similarly, Chinese state organizations have purchased 20% of shares in a South African media platform named IOL and have published pieces supporting China there. Likewise, Beijing has also started establishing bilateral cooperation agreements with local media.
For example, when Italy officially joined the BRI in 2019, Xi Jinping signed a series of media cooperation agreements with Italian media organizations, including the Italian state news agency ANSA.
According to the Jackson Art Association, the expanding presence in Italian media provides Beijing with a platform to spread its official viewpoints while potentially hindering the emergence of more critical discussions. Thus, China has used this tactic to facilitate its soft diplomacy.
Role of Chinese Cinema
China has also used cinema as a tool to promote its image and enhance its cultural diplomacy, aligning with the country’s going-out policy. According to the latest statistics, China has the most cinema screens in the world, with 65,500.
Thus, it acts as a magnet for foreign companies, especially Hollywood, which seeks to profit from screening their films there.
However, China has set a quota of only 34 high-budget foreign films per year. This restriction forces Hollywood producers to seek joint ventures with Chinese companies. This is evident from the fact that between 2002 and 2013, 41 co-productions were made.
However, in these joint projects, China always holds the upper hand, consequently influencing the exhibition moment in films while considering Chinese investors’ demands.
Furthermore, China influences co-productions by censoring and adjusting scripts to align with pro-China narratives.
For instance, in one film, to satisfy Chinese censors, Sony had to remove a scene where aliens destroyed the Great Wall of China from the 2015 movie Pixels. Therefore, China does not allow sensitive issues related to the country, such as Tibet, to be portrayed negatively.
Robert Daly, director of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Wilson Center in Washington, shares the view that in recent years, there has been no film depicting the Chinese Communist Party or mainland Chinese characters.
Impacts of China’s Media Expansion
Beijing has resorted to various measures to promote China’s cultural diplomacy, such as internationalizing its news agencies, investing in other countries’ news agencies, co-producing with Hollywood, and censoring films. But has China succeeded in achieving this goal?
Through the expansion of state media in foreign countries and co-productions with Hollywood, China has been able to expand its cultural influence worldwide. This is clearly and evidently observable in the Global Power Index, which particularly ranks China as a uniquely culturally influential and highly impactful country among other nations.
This ranking not only reflects China’s current position in global cultural arenas but also indicates the country’s high potential in the cultural field and its ability to attract nations and influence public opinion more broadly.
Similarly, the content control approach that China employs has not only directly impacted the negative image of the country internationally but also has a significant effect on what is displayed within the country’s borders.
This control plays a fundamental role in shaping cultural and social narratives within the country and is indeed a tool for creating and consolidating China’s cultural power.
Thus, it can be said with certainty that China’s media tactics and modern communication tools have played a crucial and very important role in achieving the dual goals of the country’s cultural diplomacy.
These goals include countering the cultural hegemony of Western countries, especially the United States, while simultaneously preventing Westernization processes within China’s borders, which could be dangerous for the country’s national unity. These efforts are also part of China’s overall long-term strategy in the cultural space to maintain national unity and loyalty to the government.
In this context, the collaboration and synergy of Chinese media with Western media, especially the Hollywood film industry, pose a threat to American media.
These collaborations have helped China to become a strong and prominent player on the global stage, adopting an equal or even superior stance against its cultural rivals. This demonstrates the cultural and diplomatic successes of the country internationally, efficiently utilizing all modern tools to secure its position.