Culture forms the soul of a nation and its people. Understanding Chinese culture is fundamental to understanding China. On November 30, ahead of the opening of the 2025 Understanding China International Conference (Guangzhou), media interviews featured Yang Xiaodong, Director of the International Cultural Exchange and Research Committee of the China National Committee for the Study of International Affairs, Zhao Jing, Executive Director of the same committee, and Hu Chaoqing, Vice President of Rongliang Short Drama, discussing new pathways for Chinese culture to go global.
Yang Xiaodong stated, “The mode of cultural exchange is shifting from ‘explanation’ to ‘interaction’.” He emphasized the need to build two core competencies: The first is to articulate the global value of Chinese civilization and culture, enabling the world to truly understand China and recognize the worth of its culture. The second is to establish a trustworthy platform to further promote Chinese culture on the world stage. “Culture is a force; technology is also a force. We are now leveraging technological power to build new channels and platforms for the global outreach of Chinese culture,” Yang said.
Presenting a credible, appealing, and admirable image of China is the goal and direction of these cultural outreach efforts. Zhao Jing mentioned recent research on building a “trusted digital economy ecosystem,” noting that “the immutability inherent in blockchain technology helps achieve the objective of ‘trustworthiness’.”
With Chinese short dramas gaining global popularity, Hu Chaoqing, an industry practitioner, believes that “while the initial step of taking short dramas overseas has made international audiences familiar with the format, the next step is to further integrate Chinese culture into these works.” He cited the example of the overseas version of the premium short drama Take You to a Great Place, which was developed under the model of “one drama, one county, one distinguishing feature,” combining local characteristics to create key cultural tourism-themed short dramas. This approach allows international viewers, already accustomed to the vertical screen format and lightweight narrative style, to further engage with Chinese culture.
