Marketing China’s global rise

The economic development of China has reached the point where it is beginning to be a challenger to the USA in a range of areas. It is following a classic imperialist path in being increasingly a net exporter of capital. It is developing its military forces to ensure that it can exercise its power internationally. It is developing an international cultural apparatus which is designed to present China and Chinese initiatives in a positive light to sections of the world’s population. In doing these things, it is doing in a conscious and deliberate manner many of the things that occurred in a rather more piecemeal fashion with the rise of earlier imperial powers. If the old world communication and information order was dominated by the USA, China’s clear intention is make sure that the New World Communication and Information Order is dominated by China. China is still very much a junior operator and in finance, armaments and culture it is still vastly weaker than the USA, but it is growing year on year and a re-organization of global power relations seems more or less inevitable. This paper is concerned only with the cultural dimension of China’s rise. It briefly reviews the state of its international media initiatives, including the well-researched investments in Africa. On the basis of what is known already about these developments and their reception, the paper considers the prospects of China’s success in forging a major place in international communication.