China sees sharp rise in cultural soft power: officials

Sun Zhijun, Deputy Minister of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, speaks at a news conference in Beijing, on October 20, 2017. [Photo: China.com.cn]

Chinese officials have reviewed the country's progress in ideological and cultural building, saying historical breakthroughs have been made since the 18th National Congress of the CPC.

Chinese publicity authorities made the remarks at a news conference on Friday, while speaking on China's much-strengthened cultural soft power.

CRI's Guan Chao has more.

"The theory innovation of the CPC has the support of the people. The influence of the news media has been enhanced. The socialist core values find more legal ground and public basis. The speed of cultural and art creation is increasing. China's cultural soft power has been greatly enhanced."

Sun Zhijun, Deputy Minister of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, has pointed out that the new breakthroughs in ideological building highlights more emphasis on creating social effects.

Echoing Sun Zhijun's remarks, Xia Weidong, Deputy Director of the Central Civilization Office, observed that the breakthroughs are epitomized by the ideological innovation during the last five years. 

"For five years, we've used the theory to improve our party, encourage the people, and guide our practices. Our efforts include the publication of 'Xi Jinping: The Governance of China' and a collection of Xi Jinping's major speeches. The publications are well-received both domestically and internationally."

Meanwhile, Zhang Hongsen, Deputy director-general of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, also lauded China's progress in films as part of the breakthroughs.

"For five years, we've seen outstanding examples such as 'The Taking of Tiger Mountain,' 'Operation Mekong,' and 'Wolf Warrior 2,' which have boasted both social and economic effects. From 2012 to 2016, the investing entities in China's film industry amounted to over 2,000. And box office sales also jumped from about 17-billion yuan to over 49-billion during the same period."

Zhang has attributed the success to system reforms in the film industry, as well as innovation and personnel training.

When asked about the next steps in China's ideological and cultural building, Sun Zhijun mentioned exploring the international market as part of the plan.

Deputy Cultural Minister, Xiang Zhaolun, said China will further promote cultural ties in addition to economic and trade relations with countries along the "Belt and Road."

"According to statistics, China has signed over 300 inter-governmental cultural agreements and executive plans with countries along the 'Belt and Road.' Multilateral cultural cooperation mechanisms have been built under the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, China-Central-and-East-Europe, China-Arab, and China-ASEAN frameworks. As next steps, the Ministry of Culture has formulated an action plan for 'Belt and Road' cultural development between 2016 and 2020."

Meanwhile, the officials say they will further improve personnel training in the cultural sector to further its development. 

For CRI, I'm Guan Chao.