Promoting China's soft power abroad

Since many believe that language and cultural barriers are probably hindering the globalization of Chinese culture, China should make concerted efforts to boost its soft power and promote its cultural products abroad.

The United States is the leader in global soft power thanks largely to Hollywood, and Japan and the Republic of Korea have become major players in the pop culture industry, especially over the past decade.

So why have the endeavors of China's globally recognized cultural brands and intellectual property not been successful overseas despite the country's rich cultural values and ideas?

Developing a culturally advanced society is key to China building a great modern socialist country. In this regard, the opening of Universal Studios Beijing in September could inject new vitality into China's cultural industry and facilitate its growth and integration with the global cultural industry.

Universal Studios Beijing is a Universal theme park and a part of the Universal Beijing Resort. It is the fifth Universal Studios-branded theme park in the world, and the third in Asia, after Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Singapore.

A country's policy to enhance its soft power should reflect its rich culture and the strength of its cultural industry. But so far, China's policy to boost its soft power has not yielded the desired results perhaps because the world, especially the West, has somehow misunderstood its cultural concepts and values.

The authorities should therefore use the opening of the Universal Studios Beijing to improve their policy to bolster China's soft power and make greater efforts to promote it worldwide. And artists, including film directors and actors, theater personalities, musicians and singers, should become China's cultural ambassadors and spread Chinese culture and cultural products abroad.

Social media have become major drivers of culture and can boost cultural diversity while helping change the way we interact with each other and with the rest of the world. China has a rich heritage of arts, painting, architecture, poetry and sculpture, which can be used as part of the cultural policy to make more people around the world interested in Chinese culture.

It is important that China's cultural industry promotes creativity and raises people's cultural awareness, and artists use social media platforms such as TikTok to showcase their works and reflect the rich and diverse elements of Chinese culture, in order to draw the attention of people in different countries. Since social media are highly influential, they can also help the world to better understand Chinese culture.

The cultivation of cultural talents is an important aspect of any country's cultural policy. Since diversity and inclusiveness are inextricably intertwined, the cultural industry needs to make more efforts to attract cultural talents and give them opportunities to showcase their creativity through different programs and products, and encourage them to take part in international cultural conferences and festivals to boost China's soft power.

Take Kung Fu Panda, which essentially showcases Chinese martial arts, for example. The success of this animated Hollywood series has prompted Chinese artists and film and TV program directors to search for and exhibit more Chinese cultural elements.

In recent years, some Chinese TV drama series and programs have caught the global audience's imagination. In particular, Empresses in the Palace and Story of Yanxi Palace have been highly appreciated, and have inspired more Chinese directors and artists to "go global".

China will continue to create more far-reaching and mesmerizing cultural products. And supported by the private and public sectors alike, Chinese culture will certainly gain wider acceptance around the world. With one of the world's largest cultural markets and an inclusive cultural policy, powered by innovations and creative cultural enterprises, it is hoped that Chinese culture will blossom across the world sooner rather than later.

The author is a researcher at the China National Center for Cultural Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.