The new great leap forward: a two-case analysis of modern China's efforts in external communication strategies

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THE NEW GREAT LEAP FORWARD
A TWO-CASE ANALYSIS OF MODERN CHINA’S EFFORTS IN EXTERNAL
COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES

by

Tian Yuan

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS)

May 2012

Copyright 2012 Tian Yuan

ii
Acknowledgements

This thesis would not have been possible without the widespread support from a group of
important people. First and foremost I owe my deepest gratitude to my thesis committee
chair, Jay Wang, who has guided me throughout my thesis writing process with his
patience. His in-depth knowledge of the topic and vision for my work has always been a
great inspiration to me. I would also like to extend my gratitude to my committee
members Matthew LeVeque and Brenda Lynch for their feedback and advice to this
thesis. In addition, a special thank you to USC alumni Kevin Zhang for his positive
words of encouragement and making focus group possible.

iii
Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... ii

List of Tables .................................................................................................................... iv

Abstract.............................................................................................................................. v

Chapter One: Overview of the Chinese Government External Communication
Strategy and Practice Over the Last Ten years ............................................................. 1
Challenges that China Faces In Improving Its International Image ............................... 4
Advantages to Reconstruct China’s International Image................................................ 9
Achievements of the Chinese Government External Communication ......................... 12

Chapter Two: “Experience China” Campaign ............................................................ 18
Goals of the Campaign.................................................................................................. 24
Targeted Audience........................................................................................................ 26
Message Conveyed through the Commercial ............................................................... 28

Chapter Three: “Made in China, Made with the World” Campaign........................ 35
Goals of the Campaign.................................................................................................. 42
Targeted Audience........................................................................................................ 43
Message Conveyed through the Commercial ............................................................... 46

Chapter Four: Media Monitor of Two Campaigns ..................................................... 49
Experience China Campaign......................................................................................... 49
“Made in China, Made with the World” Campaign ..................................................... 54

Chapter Five: Focus Group Analysis............................................................................ 59
“Made in China, Made with the World” Commercial .................................................. 63
How people responded to the content of commercial?............................................. 63
Execution Analysis.................................................................................................... 65
Attitude Analysis ....................................................................................................... 67
“Experience China” Commercial.................................................................................. 68
How people responded to the content of commercial?............................................. 68
Execution Analysis.................................................................................................... 72
Attitude Analysis ....................................................................................................... 73

Chapter Six: Conclusion................................................................................................. 75

Bibliography .................................................................................................................... 79

Appendix: Focus Group Guide...................................................................................... 82
iv
List of Tables

Table 1: Experience China Commercial Participants, Page 29

Table 2: Focus Group Members, Page 59

v
Abstract

With the gradual rise of China’s power in the international community, the concept and
practice of foreign diplomacy has been reevaluated by the Chinese government. In the
last decade of twentieth century, with broader implementation of “Reform and Open up”
policy nationwide, the Chinese economy has rise into a new level. When looking back to
what has been done in terms of international diplomacy over the last ten years, it becomes
obvious that the Chinese external communication took on a new approach, reflecting a
more mature and proactive strategy than ever before. Given this transformation shift on a
national scale, it is only fitting to contribute this graduation thesis on the exploration of
this topic. The purpose of the thesis is to examine how the Chinese government
undertakes its international communication in the Western society, with specific focus on
two government campaigns. Hopefully, the thesis can provide a framework of
understanding on the new trend of the approach taken by the Chinese government in its
communication with the Western societies.

The thesis comprises six chapters. The first chapter is aimed to provide an overview of
the Chinese government’s external communication strategy in the past decade, with
emphasis on explaining the global climate and the needs for China to develop a proactive
approach in the international arena. The second and third chapters will examine two
specific campaigns that the government did to engage with the Western public as these
two cases symbolized the greatest improvement in China’s external communication in
recent years. The fourth chapter is an analysis on media reactions to these two campaigns.
vi
By highlighting the report and insights from both American and Chinese sides, published
reactions and opinions across the Pacific will be discussed and scrutinized. The fifth
chapter supplies more feedbacks regarding the two campaigns through the summarization
of the results from a focus group, which encouraged the participants to talk about their
opinions about the two commercials from a targeted audience’s perspective. The final
chapter serves as a conclusion of the thesis by summarizing the responses to the two
campaigns from all channels as well as emphasizing some of the recommendations for
the Chinese government to further improve the nation’s international image.

1
Chapter One: Overview of the Chinese Government External
Communication Strategy and Practice Over the Last Ten years

In the first chapter of Brand China, Joshua Copper Ramo, hailed as “one of China’s
leading foreign born scholars” by the World Economic Forum and the youngest Senior
Editor in the history of TIME Magazine, pointed out that
China’s greatest strategic treat today is its national image. For one of the few
times in its history, this famously inward-looking nation is vulnerable to how it is
seen abroad. How China is perceived by other nations will determine the future of
Chinese development and reform.
1

Realizing the huge conceptual differences existing between how China sees herself and
how the rest of the world perceives China along with the decisive influence its external
perception has on its internal social stability, the Chinese government in recent years has
began a proactive approach aimed at improving the international image of the country.
What is the rationale behind the need of increasing China’s national brand? How
profound and lasting the impact China’s image would have on both inside and outside of
the Chinese society? What kind of strategies have the Chinese government executed and
received feedbacks on for gaining an international reputation? In this thesis, the author
attempts to reveal answers of these questions through three aspects. After a detailed
introduction and explanation of strategies and tactics the Chinese government employed
in recent years to tackle the nation’s image issue, the paper will keep its focus on two
Chinese government campaigns, two commercials specifically, that were created with the
sole intention of increasing China’s image as a country and that of China-made products
in the eyes of American public. Since these two campaigns have not been noticed and

1
Ramo, J. C. (2007). Brand China (p. 2).
2
discussed widely among the academia internationally, the paper, through a detailed
analysis of the content, execution, as well as reaction from both American and Chinese
sides, hope to serve as an inspiration on discussing a new trend the Chinese government
has developed in the world arena that focuses on improving a nation’s image via channels
and efforts that were traditionally applied for commercial means.

The original concept of propaganda (Xuan Chuan) is well-known and used by Chinese
people for thousands of years. The official use of the word can be traced back to the
Three Kingdoms period in the Chinese history when the author Chen Shou chose the
word propaganda for issuing the military order and communicating with the war strategy
in the authoritative historical text of The Records of the Three Kingdom. In modern China,
the direct translation of propaganda in Chinese, Xuan Chuan, is actually a combination of
two levels of meanings. Xuan is emphasized on expressing and speaking out ideas and
opinions while Chuan is more toward the idea of disseminating the information in front
of the public. In the English version, the meaning of propaganda experienced a big twist.
The neutral term began to carry a negative association when the Soviet Union and
Germany used the word to represent the dissemination of often false but compelling
claims to achieve a political and organizational purpose. However, unlike its English
translation of the word, propaganda in modern China actually has a positive connotation
linked with any kind of activities that involve with communication and mutual
understanding of a fact, an idea as well as a policy in both corporate and state levels.
3
From this perspective, the propaganda in Chinese is essentially linked to the word
publicity as we know in the Western society.

In the past decade, with the continuous development of the world economy and
information technology, a new trend with emphasis on cooperation among different
countries has quickly surfaced onto the international scene. Under such an environment, a
new concept of “soft power” grew in the eyes of Chinese people. As a matter of fact, in
recent years, how to develop and strengthen the country’s soft power becomes a hot topic
that has been widely discussed among the public as Chinese media frequently refers to
the importance of soft power for China. The concept of soft power was coined by Joseph
Nye at Harvard University in the book Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American
Power. After the end of the Cold War, he noticed the effectiveness of persuasion,
assimilation and attraction and its influence for a country in world political realm;
therefore he strongly opposed the use of hard power in terms of coercion and threat with
a support of a country’s military and economic might. He further developed the concept
in his book Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics in 2004, and now it
becomes a frequently mentioned phrase among political leaders, news media and
academics in international affairs around the world.
Soft power, arises from the attractiveness of a country’s culture, political ideals,
and policies, lies in a country’s ability to attract and persuade, getting others to
want the outcomes that you want – co-opts people rather than coerces them.
2

2
Nye, J. S., Jr. (2004). Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics (p. 5).
4
The official use of the phrase soft power in China started from 2007 when President of
the PR China Hu Jintao delivered a speech to the Seventeenth National Congress of the
Communist Party of China. The report stated that China’s soft power is essentially
depended on the nation’s culture as it can largely help increase a country’s overall
competitiveness in the world. This is the first time that a document from the highest
authoritative government body has promoted “soft power”.
3
Along with this phenomenon
is increasing focus on the global economic and political situation within the Chinese
society, a direct reflection of the interest that China has as a country to improve its
perception in front of other nations.

Challenges that China Faces In Improving Its International Image
When we look back over last decade of China’s international diplomacy, the difference in
political system, ideology among the public as well as the culture were critical obstacles
in the way the country try to express itself in the international society. Probably, one of
the biggest and most widespread misconceptions lies within the discrepancy between
what Chinese believe to be their international image and what Westerners think of China.
According to the latest survey (2011) published by BBC World Service poll across 28
countries, most of Chinese, 81 percent of those who had been interviewed in China,
believed that their country has a positive influence in the world while there was only an
average of 41 percent of the overall interview pool viewed positively towards China.
Moreover, it is important to point out that when we look closely at the perception of

3
Wang, Y. W. (2008). Public Diplomacy and the Rise of Chinese Soft Power. The Annals of the American
Academy, (p. 258).
5
China from each country, most of the positive views were from African and Central
American countries while a large number of established Western countries still hold a
strong negative view towards China. For example, 51 percent of the respondents from
U.S. thought China negatively while only 29 percent viewed positively in terms of the
image of China. The bad image perception also revealed in countries such as Germany
and Italy with both of them had a negative view over 70 percent as result in total
4
. This
point became clearly evident when other global survey projects reached the same
conclusion. The reason behind this divergence between China’s self-image and external
perception is coming from the Chinese ideology, which has been profoundly influenced
by the traditional Chinese culture.
Chinese people prefer self-examination and look for self-transformation in
attempts to convince or convert others. China assumes that national strength is an
index of international image: that is the nation is strong enough and big enough,
then others will respect it.
5

Because of this mind-set, China kept a low-key strategy in its international political realm
for a long time. It appeared to be quiet, deliberate but less involved in participation of the
international affairs, which eventually proved done more harm than good in establishing
the country’s reputation in the international arena.

Another misleading concept that widely held among Western public relates to the “China
threat” theory, which gains its popularity with a gradual rise of China in recent years. As

4
BBC World Service Poll. (2010). Retrieved from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/160410bbcwspoll.pdf

5
Wang, Y. W. (2008). Public Diplomacy and the Rise of Chinese Soft Power. The Annals of the American
Academy, (p. 262).
6
it showed in the Quadrennial Defense Review Report in 2006, China has the great
potential to compete militarily with the United States and field disruptive military
technologies that could over time offset traditional U.S. military advantages.
6
Besides
such statement published from government officially, some scholars even argued
stunningly that
The People’s Republic of China is the most serious national security threat the
United States faces at present and will remain so into the foreseeable future… The
reason Americans should take the threat from China so seriously is that it puts at
risk the very national existence of the United Sates.
7

The rise and popularity of the “China threat” theory serves a warning siren for the
Chinese international diplomacy. It not only shows economic revival and military
restructuring of China brings uncertainty and pressure to the Western society, but more
importantly, it reveals a huge gap of mutual understanding has been created between
China and other countries. Especially with the United States, the issue leads to a deeply
mistrustful attitude from America’s perspective in treating with the peaceful rise of China.
Ever since the execution of Reform and Opening-up policy in 1980’s, China’s social and
economic development has shifted into high gear in the following thirty years. When the
Chinese leadership focuses its attention on improving the domestic growth, limited
resources have been allocated into cultivating a real affinity with foreign publics. This
becomes a major reason why the so-called the “China threat” theory has been formulated
and supported by many in the Western society of the world.

6
U.S. Department of Defense. (2006). Quadrennial Defense Review Report, (p. 41).

7
Gertz, B. (2000). The China Threat: How the People’ Republic Targets America, (p. 199).
7
Besides the divergence on China’s image domestically and internationally and a growing
concern that a rising China will eventually replace U.S., as the world leader, which can
ultimately separate China and other Western countries into two opposing factions, the
third challenge the country faces in order to improve its image among the Western public
is to establish clear distinction between ancient China and modern China. Given its
uniqueness to other culture forms, Chinese culture and traditions are attractive and widely
known in the Western world. However, the same people that enjoys beef fried rice also
seem to be the ones rejecting the image of a modern China because the country’s
contemporary perception is so closely associated with its politics and governance to a
point that Westerners feel unfamiliar, innate feeling that restrains them from knowing
more about the country. According to the latest report published from Simon Anholt
about the Nation Brands Index, the only analytical ranking to track and measure the
world’s national images and reputations, the U.S. public actually rated Chinese Culture
fifth out of fifty countries in 2009; however, they ranked the Chinese governance
extremely low. The result showed that American’s rating governance of China was at the
bottom four on the list, placing it forty-seventh out of fifty countries.
8
The negative
perception about China’s political system and its governance poses a new difficulty for
the country’s external communication to the rest of the world. This is simply because, as
proven in the psychology academia, people have a tendency to selectively pick up the
information and evidence that can support their former believes and hypotheses. In this
case, because of a profound doubt about China’s political and society systems already

8
Anholt, S. (2009). Nation Brands Index. Retrieved from http://www.simonanholt.com/Research/research-
introduction.aspx
8
existed in their mind, it becomes extremely difficult to educate and convince the Western
public about the merits and achievements the Chinese government has accomplished in
recent years.

The fourth issue that provokes strong criticism from the Western world and stands as
another liability in improving China’s national image is the widespread trust issue toward
Chinese media in the mind of Western public. The reason behind the distrust attitude for
the media in China is very complex considering the origin and development of media in
China is deeply entrenched in its social and political systems. First, the concept of news
was originated in the Western society, where capitalism that dominated the Western
world throughout 20
th
century became a major factor for the development and maturity of
media industry. Compare with that, China did not have a similar societal and economic
environment for the growing and expanding of media industry. Moreover, the difference
in social and political systems is another consideration that we should not ignore. Ever
since the publishing of the first newspaper in U.S., the media industry in the Western
world is completely independent from its political system, government had no right to
infringe the freedom of press. However, the birth of media in China was a direct result of
the help from the Chinese government. Therefore, the government leadership as well as
the public views the media as a tool to spread the information from the highest level. This
illustrates why Chinese media has been called the “throat and tongue” of the country for
decades. Although the Chinese government began to allow independent media
corporations to operate in China after the economic reform, the “state-owned” image still
9
gives the public in Western countries a negative projection as people believe the
transparency of the information can not be guaranteed under the restriction and
censorship of another party.

Advantages to Reconstruct China’s International Image
During the past decades, because of a lack in properly recognizing the importance of a
country’s reputation in the world and reluctance in practicing a proactive approach to
speak out its own voice in the international society, China has been isolated from the
mainstream international realm and its global impression in the eyes of Western public
was humble and friendly at the best. However, with rapid economic development,
political civilization and social improvement inside of the country, the demand to be a
responsible stakeholder in international society and the recognition from Western
countries becomes more and more imminent. Professor Yiwei Wang, an expert in Sino-
American relationship in the Institute for International Studies of Fudan University in
China, mentioned in his research
China is seeking the road for peaceful development. It needs to change the
international view of China, redress the so-called China threat, and make the
world accept the rise of Chinese power. Chinese diplomacy has to go beyond the
tradition model of diplomacy, which focuses on government-to-government
engagement. The Chinese government also needs to initiate public diplomacy to
engage foreign civil society.
9

Although surrounded by a negative projection due to the old-school practice of
international diplomacy, China still has certain advantages to “reconstruct” its

9
Wang, Y. W. (2008). Public Diplomacy and the Rise of Chinese Soft Power. The Annals of the American
Academy, (p. 263).
10
recognition in front of Western public. First, the current economic and societal prosperity
inside of China legitimates the country’s status in the international society. After carrying
out the Reform and Opening-up policy to the outside world in Deng’s era, great
achievements has been made in the past thirty years. By rejuvenating its economy
domestically, China has become the fastest growing country with an average annual
growth rate of GDP at eight to nine percent. This figure is quite astonishing under the
background of global economic recession when the average annual world GDP growth
rate is around three percent. In the year of 2010 China overtook Japan as the world’s
second-largest economy, leaving only the United States in the front. With a solid
economic foundation from years of development that gives the public confidence and
trust to the country, many scholars as well as the public in the Western world are begin to
believe that sooner or later China will find its own way to lead the world.

Meanwhile, the leadership in China realizes a long and lasting prosperity of a country can
not be achieved by itself; recognition from other countries, especially countries in the
Western society, is an essential element for a country’s further development. Therefore,
China has to strategically practice its international relation and try to win the heart of
Western public. As the flow of goods, service, technology and capital expands into an
international level, there is an increasing economic interdependency around the world.
Gaining other countries’ trust and support will not only render China a certain political
advantage, the whole country’s economy will get benefited as well. Also, as the largest
exporter and second-largest importer entity in the world, the rapid growth in China in
11
recent years attracts a lot of attention from the world. Now, a growing number of
countries expect and support China to build a new image and becomes a legitimate voice
in the international stage.

Thirdly, the experience that China has learned from its old approach in the past decades
becomes useful reference for future practice in the international arena. Back in 1955
when Zhou Enlai represented China in the Asian-African Conference in Bandung, the
country already played an important role in the success of the conference. Since then,
China enjoys a long term economic and cultural cooperation with most of Asian, African
and Latin American countries. The reputation of China among these countries can not
ever be underestimated. The influence China exercises on African countries can be
clearly demonstrated by the establishment of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, with
four official summits have been held to date since 2009. The improvements of China’s
international diplomacy in recent years can also be seen through the restore of Cross-
Strait relations with Taiwan, in which an innovative policy of the “Three Links” (direct
postal, transportation and trade on both sides) China brought forward increases mutual
understanding and breaks an entrenched stereotype of old China in the mind of Taiwan
public. At the same time, people in Philippine and Japan, who held a negative view
towards China for a long time, have reported a sharp reversal in their opinions. According
to BBC World Service Poll in 2010, there is a 16 percent increase in positive view for
12
China from Filipinos while negative view dropped 21 percent in Japan
10
. These
international diplomatic practices, successful or not, provide a reference point for the
country on how to improve its perception in the Western society, and it becomes clear
that the world is receptive when China takes the drive’s seat and employs a proactive
attitude in dealing with international affairs.

Achievements of the Chinese Government External Communication
After analyzing the current misunderstandings Western public commonly have in their
perception about China and explain the rationale for China to improve its international
image, the following part of this chapter will focus on presenting and reviewing the
actual efforts and achievements that the Chinese government made in recent years for the
building of its global image.

Looking back in the past decade, as economic growth and civilization advancement
becomes the mainstay of China’s rise; the Chinese government paid more and more
attention to the outside world. Not only in the national congress, but also in the
international forum, the Chinese leadership began to publicly talk about the importance
of China’s peaceful rise, with a hope of improving the understanding of the country from
the Western society. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to U.S. at the end of 2003
signified the start of a new era in China’s international public diplomacy. In his speech
delivered at Harvard University with the title of “Turning Your Eyes to China”, the

10
BBC World Service Poll. (2010). Retrieved from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/160410bbcwspoll.pdf
13
Premier made a public appeal to all American students by saying, “A deeper mutual
understanding is a two-way process. I hope American young people will turn their eyes to
China. I also trust our young people will turn their eyes more to the US.”
11
In the speech,
he also stressed several times about the necessity of a peaceful international environment
for the development of every country in the world, and explained China’s determination
to secure a stable environment to help promote world peace. His personal charisma, a
sincere and frank attitude to the Western public, along with a new strategic turning point
on China’s international diplomacy that emphasized on peaceful development, resonated
with great compliments from both the media and public in U.S. It became a foundation
for the Chinese government to improve the country’s image in the Western countries.

In acknowledgement of this, just a half year later at the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA),
Chinese President Hu Jintao delivered a keynote speech named “China’s Peaceful Rise
and Economic Globalization” at the opening ceremony of the annual conference. To
better explain China’s point, President Hu stated
It is China’s sincere wish to cultivate an overall and close partnership geared to
region rejuvenation, a partnership that features equality and mutual trust
politically, mutual benefit and win-win economically, exchange and emulation
culturally, and dialogue and cooperation on the security front.
12

This high-profile speech with its only purpose of strengthening cooperation and
dismissing worries about China’s development set the cornerstone for government

11
Wen, J. B. (2003). Turning Your Eyes to China. Retrieved from
http://losangeles.china-consulate.org/eng/news/topnews/t56336.htm

12
Hu, J.T. (2004). China’s Peaceful Rise and Economic Globalization. Boao Forum for Asia. Retrieved
from http://english.cri.cn/1325/2004-4-26/20@107898_2.htm
14
officials as well as the public in understanding the country’s foreign policy. The desire to
shape a positive perception externally has become a major task for Chinese diplomacy.

Besides the effort of increasing its image in the world, China at the same time also
worked on building its image internally by placing the topic on nation’s public agenda.
The seventeenth Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress in 2007 pointed
out that China needs to improve the nation’s soft power, a county’s advantages created
from its ideology system, foreign policy and traditional culture. In the government work
report, it specifically stated that the improvement of soft power is aimed at achieving
three goals – increase the affinity of China’s nation image, improve the influence of
Chinese culture internationally, and raise the competitiveness of the culture industry. The
establishment of those three goals illustrates at least two points. First, it is a direct
reflection of the maturity of the country’s foreign policy, which is able to explore and
take advantage of China’s unique cultural influence in the world to legitimate its position
in the Western society. Second, China’s foreign policy began to shift its focus from
official communication to grass-roots strategy to change the international view of China.

Along with the Chinese leadership’s public speech in explaining China’s international
strategy from an ideological perspective, the government also worked on reconstructing
its system and implementing various campaigns from a pragmatic level to defeat its
stereotyping from outside. With grave concerns about the country’s image and credibility
perceived in front of other countries, the need of establishing an official channel to
15
communication as well as interact with international stakeholders became evident. Under
such circumstance, the Chinese government spokesperson system stood out as a strategic
approach of government official communication. The first official Chinese endorsement
of the spokesperson model was established when the issue of “On the Establishment of
Press Spokesperson System and the Improvement of Work on Foreign Journalists” in
1982, since then the system has played a vital role in changing international news
reporting on China.
13
From poorly handled 2003 SARS crisis to the quick responses in
2008 Sichuan earthquake, the core value of “communicating the news with the hope of
gaining the public understanding and cooperation” instead of “regulating the news to
maintain the so-called stable of the society” gradually forms the foundation of its daily
activity, such as briefings, news conferences, and daily updates. The change won a great
deal of praise in the international society, and a new image of openness and transparency
of the Chinese government began to take its shape in the minds of the public.

Success in building a nation’s image can not be achieved only domestically; it also
requires a country to make its voice heard in the international community. As Zhao
Qizheng, the former head of the State Council Information Office, wrote in the People’s
Daily, China must present a completely true picture of itself to other countries in the
world. From this perspective, China should not only listen, but also talk back.
14
The
inaccurate portrait in foreign media forces the country to defend itself and speak to the

13
Xie, K.L. (2004, April). Reflection on the Evolution of Our Spokesperson System since Open up. The
Journal of Guangdong Institute of Public Administration, (pp. 25-28).

14
Zhao, Q. Z. (2007, March 30). Better public diplomacy to present a truer picture of China. People’s Daily.
Retrieved from http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200703/30/eng20070330_362496.html
16
world in its own ways. Starting from 2009, China Central Television, the People’s Daily,
and Xinhua News Agency as major state-owned media corporations begin to mark their
footprints in the Western society. Although there are still some issues, such as inadequate
international reporting experience and outdated operational structure, that need to be
tackled, Chinese media’s international expansion has helped reveal a new national image
of openness and transparency in front of Westerners through providing both an accurate
reflection of a modern China and satisfying the “local” need in Western countries.

As the host country of two international events, 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and 2010
Shanghai Expo, China seized the opportunity and used those two mega events as two
national campaigns to present a vibrant image of modern China to the world. In
preparation of the Olympic, the Chinese government invested large amounts of time and
effort to increase the awareness and support from the public not only for the game but the
country as well. The most prominent concepts of “Green Olympics (Lvse Aoyun), High-
tech Olympics (Keji Aoyun), People’s Olympics (Renwen Aoyun)” were adopted to
resonate with the prevailing international norms and values. In the execution of the
campaign, environmental awareness was promoted among the general public, with
citizens strongly encouraged to make “green” consumption choices and recommended to
heavily involved in a series of environmental improvement events and activities. At the
same time, this grand sport event featured high technology by incorporating the latest
domestic and international scientific and technological achievements. The Beijing
Olympic Games served as a window to showcase the country’s high-tech developments
17
and its innovative strength. The essential meaning of People’s Olympic was to showcase
China’s historical and cultural heritage, and Chinese people’s positive attitude toward
their lives. It also used to deepen cultural exchange, developing the understanding and
friendship for people from all places around the world.
15
Other tactics, such as creating
the official multi-languages website for Beijing Olympics and inviting foreign media
teams to China reporting the game and interviewing the public and government officials,
proved to be very helpful in building a new nation’s image of China. 2010 Shanghai
Expo was another international event that China hosted in recent years that put the
country again under worldwide media spotlights. Under its main theme of “Better City,
Better Life”, Shanghai Expo was centered on technology innovation and cultural
interaction in order to gain a harmonious life for all human beings, an eternal theme that
incorporated Shanghai as well as China into one part of the world as it is the final pursue
of all human beings around the globe. Shanghai Expo portrayed another aspect of China
as a responsible country that makes the long-term commitment to a better future for all of
the people in the world, an image that truly elevated the country’s legitimacy in the world
community.

15
The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. (2008). Retrieved from
http://en.beijing2008.cn/bocog/concepts/
18
Chapter Two: “Experience China” Campaign

In this chapter, the paper will focus our attention on introducing and examining one of the
most recent Chinese government campaigns, “Experience China”, which has been
broadcasting overseas to target public audiences in Western countries. Before diving into
a detailed explanation of each campaign element, it is necessary for us to understand the
rationale behind the launch of this campaign. What are the internal and external
environments at that time? Why did China made such a campaign decision? What does
the Chinese government want to achieve through this campaign? These are the key
questions to understand before piecing together any analysis about the campaign itself.

During the last few years of the past decade, China encountered a series of crisis
domestically and internationally, which more or less tarnished the nation’s reputation and
triggered a distrustful attitude from the international community. In the spring of 2008,
when the Beijing Olympic torch relay traveled to some cities in North American and
Europe, the relay route was impeded by pro-Tibetan demonstrators and human rights
advocates, even leading to confrontations at few of the relay locations. As a result, the
torch relay route was forced to shorten, change or even cancel in a number of occasions.
The incident of extinguishing the torch was a real slap on the face for the Chinese
government, as the widely touted “Journey of Harmony” Olympic relay was anything but
harmonious. The unpredictably crisis also resulted in widespread media coverage of the
controversy. The mainstream Western media, which focused its report on pro-Tibetan
19
and pro-human rights demonstrators, provoked a strong criticism from the Western
society. Many scholars in China argued these reports viewed the protests with a tinted
glass and carried biases that favored the protestors. On the other hand, in the United
States and Europe, such reports were echoed throughout the society, a clear reflection of
how China has been long viewed by most Western publics.

Inside of China, the country also experienced some kind of turbulence in the beginning of
2008. On the forty-ninth anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising Day on March 10, 2008, a
series of protests and demonstrations were sparked on the street of the region’s capital
Lhasa and further spread into other Tibetan areas. When the situation quickly escalated
into rioting, looting and killing of civilians, the police intervened and arrested some
demonstrators in order to stabilize the situation. Foreign journalists were expelled from
Tibet and denied access to the unrest areas in other regions in the name of safety.
Western media took side with protestors, portraying the activity as peaceful and people
were fighting for their justice while the image of China was more like an aggressor and
oppressor. Some even speculated the violence in Tibet might lead to a possible boycott of
the Beijing Olympics. As Richard McGregor wrote in Financial Times – Tibet uprising
was a public-relations disaster overseas for China.
16

16
McGregor, R. (2009, July 7). Beijing Handles Political Management of Riots. The Finance Times.
Retrieved from http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8083cb12-6af1-11de-861d-
00144feabdc0.html#axzz1qTOw1cnr
20
Just one year later, another series of violent riots also broke out on July 5
th
, 2009 in the
capital city, Urumqi, of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwestern China.
The riots began when a brawl involved the death of two Uyghur people, which quickly
escalated into an ethnic confrontation that targeted those of Han descent. According to
the official report that was published from the Chinese government, there were 197
deaths with more than 1,700 others injured in the riot. Different from other crisis that
happened before when the Chinese government turned to the Chinese media to shift the
public’s attention elsewhere; this time the media was utilized to provide extensive live
coverage on the riot scenes. At the same time, the Chinese government took an open and
cooperative approach with foreign media. One article published in The New York Times
stated
Hours after troops quelled the protests, the state invited foreign journalists on an
official trip to Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital and the site of the unrest, to know better
about the riots. Indeed, the government set up a media center at a downtown hotel
– with a hefty discount on rooms – to keep arriving reporters abreast of events.
17

Although this positive reaction from Beijing gained favorable reviews from international
society, Western public expressed discontent with the state-sanctioned story when
internet service and communication had been cut by the government. Those two large-
scaled social uprisings, happened within such short period of time in China, also raised
the public’s concern about the stability of the society and its sustainability as a long-term
developing country.

17
Wines, M. (2009, July 7). In Latest Upheaval, China Applies New Strategies to Control Flow of
Information. The New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/world/asia/08beijing.html
21
Seeing the crisis happened within the country in recent years and knowing the need of
continuing economic prosperity for the society, the Chinese government came up with a
series of new strategies that were aimed to boost people’s confidence, dismiss doubts,
increase reputation, and improve the country’s attractiveness in the international
community. From January 19
th
to January 23
rd
, 2011, Chinese President Hu Jintao visited
U.S. to meet with his American counterpart, President Barack Obama. During the four-
day visit, two leaders focused their attention not only on relations and business trade
between the two countries, but also some topics that China used to avoid discussing about,
such as human rights. A frank and candid way that Hu discussed on these sensitive topics
gained a positive feedback and advocacy both from Obama and American public as
revealed in the joint press conference when a reporter questioned Hu about China’s
human rights record, President Obama responded,
“China has a different political system than we do, China is at a different stage of
development than we are. We come from very different cultures and with very
different histories. But we had some core views about the universality of certain
rights, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly that we think are very important
and transcend cultures. I have been very candid with President Hu about these
issues.”
18

The visit proved to be an important one since the Chinese leadership started to use a
proactive approach when dealing with its international partners on topics that China is
usually criticized on. The communication showed its effectiveness when American public
began to show willingness listening to China’s point of view and started to understand the
difference between the two countries’ culture, economic and ideological systems.

18
Montopoli, B. (2011, January 19). China's Human Rights Record. CBS News. Retrieved from
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20028939-503544.html
22

Traditional China’s foreign policy was centered on state level engagement and
emphasized on one-way communication to express its own opinion and thought.
However, with gradual increase of experience in foreign affairs and failures of old school
practice in the international arena, China felt a strong urge to change its outdated foreign
diplomacy and adapt a more sophisticated one. As Ingrid D’ Hooghe, a research fellow
and a China relation specialist, once mentioned in her paper The Concepts of Diplomacy
and Soft Power in China, The new public diplomacy is more about engaging with the
public, not informing them; it is more about establishing a long-term relationship that will
help build trust.
19
In acknowledgement of this, the Chinese government began a
campaign with the purpose of improving Westerners’ perception of the country’s image,
especially those in America. From January 17
th
to February 14
th
, 2011, people walking
through the American landmark of New York Times Square would notice a new 50-
meter (about 164-feet) billboard that had been built up exclusively for broadcasting a new
advertisement named “Experience China”. This 60-second promotional video was
intended to show Americans several unique features and dimensions of Chinese people,
giving them a fresh view of the country by helping them picture a new “modern” image
of China. Along with five other screens that simultaneously display the same
advertisement in Times Square, this massive billboard led the campaign of a Chinese
diplomatic movement that resonated with President Hu Jintao’s visit to U.S. According to
an official Chinese news report, the commercial aired 15 times every hour from 6 A.M. to

19
Hooghe, I. D. (2011). The Concepts of Diplomacy and Soft Power in China, (p. 20).
23
2 A.M. daily. By the end of the last day on February 14
th
, the video clip ended its
broadcast in Times Square after 8,400 times of repeat showings with an estimated 50
million people who viewed the video
20
. In addition, American public also had a chance to
see the same commercial on their TVs at home as CNN broadcasted the clip during the
same period as it was in Times Square. Immediately after the broadcast of the
commercial, it received wide reviews from the academia as well as the public sectors.
Huang Shenming, dean of the School of Advertising in the Communication University of
China, commented advertising is a crucial platform to let people know about a brand.
This project is a milestone to signal that China is now open to embrace the world.
21

Commissioned by the State Council Information Office, the “Experience China”
campaign actually includes two different types of video. A 60-second promotional video
featuring an array of prominent and ordinary Chinese individuals from all walks of life to
reflect a star-studded image of Chinese people and life in modern China. Grouped by
their professions or areas of expertise, more than fifty famous Chinese figures appeared
in the clip, including the Hollywood star actor Jackie Chan, former Chinese NBA
basketball player Yao Ming, the founder and CEO of Alibaba Group Jack Ma, Olympic
diving gold-medalist Guo Jingjing, the nation’s first astronaut Yang Liwei, and
internationally renowned pianist Lang Lang.

20
China Briefing. (2011, January 19). “Experience China” U.S. TV Advertisement. Retrieved from
http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2011/01/19/%E2%80%98experience-china%E2%80%99-
advertisement-debuts-in-nycs-times-square.html

21
Chen, W. H. (2011, January 19). National Image Lights up Times Square. China Daily. Retrieved from
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/2011-01/19/content_11877951.htm
24

Along with this commercial is a 17-minute film
22
to give Western public a detailed
introduction of China. The whole film is a journey of finding out the answers for five
questions that been asked in the beginning of the video, the questions most frequently
exist in the mind of foreign public when viewing China: Who are the Chinese? What
makes Chinese who they are? Is tradition a burden or a driving force for the development
of China? Do they take their culture heritage too seriously or not seriously enough? Do
people see the conflict or fusion, nostalgia or vision of the future? With eight different
chapters showcasing the country’s achievements in politics, economy, society, culture as
well as science and research, the 800 frames in the video serve as a window for Western
public to increase their knowledge about the real life in China. This film had been
broadcasted throughout different media platforms across North America, Europe as well
as Pacific areas and East Asia.

Goals of the Campaign
Needless to say, the main purpose of the campaign is to improve the projected image of
China in the mind of Western public. More specifically, the campaign aims to help
change China’s image in the international society from negative to neutral, then gradually
to a more positive one. In order to achieve this general goal, the video is intended to show
foreign audience a true reflection of a modern China by portraying different facets of the

22
This paper only focuses on the commercial part of the “Experience China” campaign in order to have a
clear comparison with another Chinese government commercial campaign “Made in China, Made with the
World”. The focus group discussion is also a review of two commercials.
25
country today. After studying through the campaign’s press conference, government
website, and media report on the related topic, the author concluded the following
messages that the Chinese government wanted the Westerners to gain from watching the
advertisement.

Chinese people are smart, friendly, and independent. The portrait of intelligent and hard-
working Chinese people in modern China is used to fight against the stereotype that
Chinese people are narrow-minded, dogmatic, conceited and selfish. The features of
several successful business people who not only dared to dream but persisted to pursue
their dreams, and eventually led their companies from small into world-wide recognition
are the best proof of the characteristic of Chinese people.

The Chinese government is fair and reasonable in treating minorities domestically and
receptive and candid in accepting different voice internationally. The portrait of civility
and democracy of the Chinese government is used to fight against the stereotype of the
Chinese government being dominant and uncooperative in the eyes of the international
society. Although this image does not directly reflect in the commercial, the message
successfully conveyed through the portrait of the people. The clip featured a slew of TV
hosts who are famous for their enlightened discussion on various current affairs, good or
bad, in the Chinese society and a reputation for revealing a true story to millions of
Chinese audiences. Their presence triggers the pursuit of a journalist’s core value in the
Chinese media, thus providing further impetus in social justice of the whole country.
26

Chinese society is peaceful and harmonious. The portrait of rapid economic growth and
social improvement in the country is used to fight against the stereotype of Chinese
society being unstable and unbalanced in the eyes of foreign media. The featuring of
aesthetic Chinese designer and trend-setting supermodels as well as world famous artists
are a reflection of an artistic ecology in modern China that is richer and more active than
it used to be, and the society as a whole has shifted from material satisfaction to the
pursuit of spiritual enrichment.

China as a country is open and prosperous. The portrait of a self-confident and peace-
loving country is used to fight against some negative theories that had been raised in
international society. Although it is also not directly expressed in the video, Western
public’s perception of China should be refreshed through a multilateral display of
celebrated Chinese figures that have made great contributions to the world.

Targeted Audience
The commercial is aimed at improving the perception of China in the eyes of
international community; therefore people in foreign countries are included in the
audience list of this campaign. However, in order to receive the best communication
effectiveness, it is reasonable to set priorities among the broad audiences overseas.

27
U.S. Public: People in United States are the first and most important group that the
campaign is targeted at. First of all, conventionally speaking, people across the globe
accept U.S. as the world’s leader. As citizens of the world’s biggest economic entity, the
hub of scientific innovation, capital of entertainment industry, and the largest military
base, American people enjoy the position of global leadership. An astonishing growth
that has taken place in China in recent years broke the balance of the current world order
as the U.S. now faces a real challenge in possibly losing its unquestioned position as a
global leader. The competition between the American veteran and the Chinese rookie,
capitalism versus communism, has created a great deal of tension between the two. Thus,
it is conclusively normal from American’s point of view to describe China as a
competitor instead of cooperator. Secondly, American media has a major influence on the
public opinions across the world. If the image of China can be changed in American
media, people in other nations are more likely to erase their long-term negative
perceptions about China. Given these two points, it is wise and strategic for the campaign
to target American public as its highest priority. An active engagement with the public
through non-official tools can help Americans reduce their doubts about China, and help
achieve the campaign goal in the long run.

People in European Countries: People in the European region represent another important
part of Western society. They share a similar kind of economical, ideological and legal
system with those in North America. They are more likely to identify with the U.S. as an
“ally” while perceive China as a “competitor”. Surveys in recent years, such as the BBS
28
World Service Poll mentioned in Chapter One, have revealed that negative views toward
China continue to be predominant in most European countries. Among 12 countries that
have a negative view on Chinese influence, five of them are European countries,
including Portugal, France, Spain, Germany and Italy, as the negative feeling in all of
these listed countries is well over 50 percent. More importantly, the already low positive
views in Italy and Spain have decreased further by seven percent comparing with the
result in 2010.
23
With China’s large amount of export and import business with the
European region every year, it is also important to improve the Europeans’ view of China.

Message Conveyed through the Commercial
The main idea of the commercial is to use an array of prominent Chinese individuals
from various professions to display a prosperous and vibrant image of China. In the 60-
second video clip, there are a total number of 23 frames with 59 people appeared in the
commercial. Those people do not have any background voice or movement; they are
shown in different groups to represent a certain profession or expertise. In response to
some criticism about the simple arrangement of the positions and the people’s stiff facial
expressions, the director of the commercial argued that what the commercial wants to
show is a group of educated, civilized and elegant prominent Chinese figures. They
should be the representative of all Chinese. Too much movement will lose that feeling.
24

Who are the people appeared in the nation’s promotional clip? Are they a full

23
BBC World Service Poll. (2010). Retrieved from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/160410bbcwspoll.pdf

24
Xinhua News. (2011, February 3). Director of “Experience China” responds criticism. Retrieved from
http://news.sina.com.cn/c/sd/2011-02-03/151321914834.shtml
29
representative of Chinese people? Can professions showed in the video help construct a
new image of China? A table listed below with a detailed analysis of each frame will give
viewers a clearer look of the commercial.
Table 1: Experience China Commercial Participants
Frame
#
Frame Topic Representatives &
Reason They Show
Profession
They
Represent
1 Stunning Chinese
Beauty
 Zhang Zilin – Miss World 2007
 Zhou Xun – Leading actress
 Yang Liping – Dance performer
 Fan Bingbing – Leading actress
 Zhang Ziyi – Leading actress
 Modeling
 Film
 Dance

2 Stunning Chinese
Beauty
 Tai Lihua – Hearing-impaired dance
performer
 Dance
3-4 Inspiring Chinese
Bravery
 Jin Jing – Female Paralympics fencer &
torchbearer in Beijing Olympic
 Lin Hao – Sichuan earthquake survivor
 Liu Guochang – UN peace keeping police
 Donnie Yen (Zhen Zidan) – Leading actor
 Civilian
 Police
 Film

5 Award-Winning
Chinese Talent
 John Woo (Wu Yusen) – Film director
 Chen Kaige – Film director
 Film

6 Enchanting
Chinese Art
 Huang Yongyu – Art master known for
woodblock prints and ink painting
 Art
7 Enchanting
Chinese Art
 Tan Dun – Contemporary classical
composer known for scores for the movie
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon & Hero
 Lang Lang – Concert pianist
 Liu Huan – Pop singer & Songwriter
 Song Zuyin – Famous soprano
 YunDi (Li Yundi) – Concert pianist
 Tan Jing – Famous soprano
 Composing
 Music
8 Leading-Edge
Chinese
Agriculture
 Yuan Longping – Agricultural Scientist
known for developing the first hybrid rice

 Agriculture
9 Influential
Chinese Wealth
 Robin Li (Li Yanhong) – Internet
entrepreneur & co-founder of China’s most
popular search engine Baidu
 Ding Lei – Founder & CEO of NetEase
 Jack Ma (Ma Yun) – Founder, Chairman
& CEO of Alibaba Group

 Business
30
Table 1 (Continued)
Frame
#
Frame Topic Representatives &
Reason They Show
Profession
They
Represent
10 Influential
Chinese Wealth
 Wang Jianzhou – Chairman of China
Mobile

 Business
11-13 Extraordinary
Chinese People
 Guo Mingyi – Hero of China 2010, model
worker
 Zhu Bangyue – Hero of China 2009 who
has taken care of his friend’s family
members for 40 years
 Alipa Ali Mahong – Hero of China 2009
who adopted more than 10 minority
orphans
 Li Ling – A school teacher in remote
countryside
 Zhang Zhengxiang – A countryman who
has protected the environment for 30 years
 Zhai Mo – A navigator who sail around the
world alone for 945 days

 Civilian
14-16 Thrilling Chinese
Athletics
 Jenny Lang Ping (Lang Ping) – Former
volleyball player & former head coach of
the U.S. women’s national volleyball team
 Guo Jingjing – Olympic diving medalist
 Ding Junhui – Professional snooker player
 Yao Ming – Former NBA basketball
player
 Deng Yaping – a table tennis player who
won six world championships and four
Olympic Championships

 Sports
17 Thought-
Provoking
Chinese
Scholarship
 Shing-Tung Yau (Qiu Chengtong) – A
Chinese-American mathematician working
in differential geometry
 Wu Jinglian – A preeminent economist
 Sun Jiadong – The chief designer for the
Chinese Lunar Exploration Program
 Li Yining – A highly regarded economist
who has been involved in economic reform
in China
 Cen Zheng – The chief engineer for carrier
rocket system in the Chinese Lunar
Exploration Program

 Academia

31
Table 1 (Continued)
Frame
#
Frame Topic Representatives &
Reason They Show
Profession
They
Represent
18 Aesthetic
Chinese Design
 Tiger Zhang (Zhang Zhifeng) – The chief
designer of a Chinese luxury brand
 Mary Ma (Ma Yanli) – A famous model
and fashion designer
 He Jingtang – A prominent architect who
famous for the design of Chinese Pavilion
in Shanghai Expo

 Ma Yansong – An architect who well-
known for Floating Island, a design of
rebuilding New York World Trade Center
 Chang Yung Ho (Zhang Yonghe) – A
Chinese-American architect & the head
professor of MIT Architecture
 Design
 Architect

19-21 Trend-Setting
Chinese
Supermodels
 Li Danni – Fashion model
 Wu Yingna – Regarded as the Beauty
Queen in Asia
 Guan Qi – Miss China 2003
 Pei Bei – Supermodel
 Beauty

22 Captivating
Chinese
Dialogue
 Chen Luyu – China’s Oprah
 Shui Junyi – A famous Journalist
 Jing Yidan – A famous Journalist
 Bai Yansong – A famous Journalist
 Media
23 Chinese Space
Travel
 Zhai Zhigang – An astronaut in Shenzhou
Seven Program
 Nie Haisheng – An astronaut in Shenzhou
Six Program
 Yang Liwei – First nation’s astronaut in
Shenzhou Five Program
 Fei Junlong – An astronaut in Shenzhou
Six Program
 Jing Haipeng – An astronaut in Shenzhou
Seven Program
 Liu Boming – An astronaut in Shenzhou
Seven Program
 Spacecraft

From the table above, we can clearly see that the commercial is seeking an inclusive
coverage from all aspects to pursue a true reflection of China. First, people selected in the
32
video are not just celebrities; ordinary people who come from all walks of lives have
been incorporated in the commercial as well. Among the 59 faces that represented China,
11 people, about 18 percent of them, were chosen not based on individual’s fame, but
based upon what the person does to influence or help others. For example, Li Ling, an
ordinary Chinese teacher, but has been called “the most beautiful school teacher” by
millions of Chinese. After graduating from college, she decisively went back to her
hometown, a remote village in the mountains, to start an elementary school with a hope
of every child in her hometown has an opportunity to go to school and get education.

With consideration of its targeted audience, the advertisement also selected four
characters that are not that famous inside of China but more well known for their
contributions to the international society, America specifically. The selection reflects the
effort of building an affinity with American public. For example, Shing-Tung Yau, a
Chinese-American mathematician who teaches in Harvard University, established his
reputation in the American mathematic and physics academia when he discovered
Calabi-Yau manifolds, a theory that is being recognized as a standard toolkit for string
theorists today. In order to better accommodate Americans’ “taste” and make it easier for
Westerners to recognize those figures, people’s English names, as long as they have one,
were substituted for their Chinese names in the commercial. For instance, the name Jack
Ma is imbedded besides the picture presentation of Ma Yun, the founder and CEO of
Alibaba Group, as his English name is being widely recognized by American media and
Western public.
33

The commercial also achieves a balance from a demographic point of view. Instead of
just focusing on successful males, the video also cast the light on female achievers.
Among 59 people appeared in the commercial, 21 are females, which counted over 35
percent in total. Also, people in the commercial ranged in ages. The youngest person is
the 11 years old little hero Li Hao, who rescued two of his classmates in Sichuan
earthquake, while the oldest is the 87 years old Chinese artist Hong Yongyu, an art
master who is known for his woodblock prints and ink paintings in the international art
realm. Having representations of the various age groups in China can provide a
comprehensive overview of the typical life in the Chinese society. In addition, the
incorporation of minorities in the video clip can also send a message to the audience that
China is a harmonious and prosperous society as minorities contribute their intelligence
and commitment to further the development of their country.

Other complementary elements also find their own ways to reveal Chinese characteristics
as attractive points in order to maximize the effect of communicating with Westerners.
The theme color of the whole commercial is red. Red is a symbol of Chinese culture
because it represents how enthusiastic and friendly Chinese people are in treating others
as well as themselves. The background music, which includes both a classical Western
symphony and a solo played by traditional Chinese dulcimer, shows a harmonious
combination of cultures from both sides. The background picture presentation also helps
giving audience more information about China by showing landmarks and historical
34
places of the country. When all supplementary messages are pieced together with the key
characters appeared in the center, they are certainly delivering a multi-aspect view of
China as a country.
35
Chapter Three: “Made in China, Made with the World” Campaign

The term “economic globalization” came into public consciousness in the last decade of
twentieth century. It refers to the rapid increase in cross-border movement of goods,
service, technology and capital. “Country-of-origin effects” was coined under such
environment. Like a brand or a company, any good feeling associated with the product’s
name can become equity that eventually convert into a large buying power and brand
loyalty towards the company. Country-of-origin effect is a psychological thinking, which
happens in the decision making process of the consumer. In other words, buyers make
their decisions not only base on the product itself, but also refer to which country
produced it. The perception of the country where the products or services are originated
will have a direct influence, positive or negative, on the consumer. In today’s broadly
connected world economy, people everywhere are establishing strong connections
between a country and its representative brands and industry. For example, when we
mention the country Japan, people will naturally think about its automobile industry and
its world famous brand names, such as Toyota and Nissan. Likewise, fashion clothing
and perfumes are more related with France since the country is a leader in the world’s
fashion industry. From this aspect, what kinds of product are associated with the country
China? What general impression do the products originated from China leave on the
mind of consumers? In an attempt to answer these questions, came the campaign of
“Made in China, Made with the World”.

36
Started in July 2007, the world’s largest toy company Mattel announced a series of
recalls for toys made in China. Within a month, the total number of toys that Mattel
pulled out of the shelf was 19 million, which became the biggest recall in the company
history. Most recalled toys, including Sesame Street’s Big Bird and Elmo, Barbie, and
Sarge from the film Cars, are due to concerns over the level of lead used in the paint.
Other recalls related to the design fault since small magnets could harm children if
swallowed.
25
The crisis placed products made in China under media scrutiny because
about half of the toys in each recall were distributed in the United States. Major
American media corporations, such as The New York Times, MSNBC, and ABC,
published a series of reports to update the public about the latest development of the
recall. Along with this outbreak, other product recalls related to Chinese imports surfaced,
including pet food, toothpaste, lipstick, and seafood. The American public was outraged
by the safety issues that are associated with Chinese products. As a result, U.S., Canada,
as well as EU began to impose a certain level of import bans against products
manufactured and exported from China.

The infamous Chinese milk scandal, which happened in 2008, caused a new wave of
uproar in the international society. In total, six infants died from kidney stones or other
kidney damages while more than 860 babies were hospitalized, and an estimated of

25
Barboza, D., & Story L. (2007, August 15). Mattel Recalls 19 Million Toys Sent From China. The New
York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/15/business/worldbusiness/15imports.html?pagewanted=all
37
300,000 babies were got effected in the crisis
26
. The milk powder dairy giant Sanlu
Group was charged for adding melamine, a toxic chemical that can boost protein content
in the ingredients but prohibited from food production in China, in its baby milk formula.
Revelation of this incident raised grave concerns across the international community,
resulted in at least 25 countries stopping importing milk products from China. In addition,
U.S. FDA and EU announced stricter checks applied to other Chinese food imports.

Recalls of many products internationally, combined with the baby formula incidence
domestically, severely damaged the international communities’ confidence towards the
food and products manufactured in China. It left an impression that the only thing
Chinese companies care about is profits, with few thoughts for the safety and quality of
the product, which is a flagrant violation of law, truth, and basic moral standards of
human beings. Every time there is a scandal related to products “Made in China”, it only
confirms and reinforces the negative associations in the mind of Western public. Those
thoughts and feelings existed for such a long time that they gradually form some of the
stereotypes in the West’s view of China and product made from China.

First, most Westerners believe products made in China are all small and simple gadgets,
which do not require high intelligence and advanced technology. This impression gets
further validated daily when people shop in retail stores. The omnipresence of “Made in
China” tag stuck on daily commodities from a plate to slate, from a Christmas gift to the

26
Branigan, T. (2008, December 2). Chinese figures show fivefold rise in babies sick from contaminated
milk. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/02/china
38
national flag makes Westerner believe that China is the world’s largest factory that
specializes in producing cheap commodities. This idea was echoed by weak marketing
strategy of Chinese brands in the process of exploring international market. For example,
although the Haier Group, a Chinese electronics and home appliances company, has the
world’s largest market share in white goods with 7.8 percent
27
is rarely known by
American consumers or compared with other brands, such as Whirlpool and LG.

Second, some Americans actually blame the country’s high unemployment rate on the
shift of manufacturing from U.S. to China. According to the latest report published from
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), U.S. Department of Labor, hourly manufacturing wage
is $34.74 in 2010
28
. Although American is more competitive when compare with most
European countries, it still shows a large weakness in front of China as BLS reported the
hourly compensation cost in manufacturing in China was only $1.36 in 2008. This
argument is perceived to be correct in many; however they failed to realize a high
unemployment rate in U.S. is actually a combined result of many factors. The household
consumption in U.S. declined sharply in recent years, which had a direct impact on the
country’s economy. A mired market resulted in a large scale of employee layoff in many
American corporations. Also, China is not the only place where all of the manufacturing
orders go to. Many economic experts predict that countries in Southeast Asia, such as

27
Market Watch. (2011, December 16). Haier Ranked The #1 Global Major Appliances Brand For 3rd
Consecutive Year. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://www.marketwatch.com/story/haier-
ranked-the-1-global-major-appliances-brand-for-3rd-consecutive-year-euromonitor-2011-12-16

28
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. (2011). International Labor Comparisons.
Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/fls/#compensation
39
Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as Vietnam, have shown strong competitiveness in
global manufacturing industry and will substitute China one day to become the next place
for large Foreign Direct Investment.

Acknowledging the misconceptions that Westerners commonly have toward the product
made in China, and in an attempt to mitigate the negative impression caused by its
product safety scandals, the Chinese government began to widely broadcast a 30-second
commercial with its name “Made in China, Made with the World” in the U.S. as well as
other Western countries at the end of 2009.

The content of commercial is simple and easy to understand. The 30-second commercial
contains five different themes. The first theme is about a jogger putting on his sneakers
with a tag “Made in China with American sports technology” sewed on the backside of
the tongue of the shoes. The second one shows a mom preparing orange juice for her
family using a refrigerator engraved “Made in China with European styling”. The third
one shows a group of teenagers dancing at a bus stop with the music being played in a
MP3 labeled “Made in China with software from Silicon Valley”. The fourth one
displays a model taking photos in a Westernized studio; her clothing is tagged with
“Made in China with French designer”. The last theme shows an airplane with a tagline
“Made in China with engineers from all over the world”.

40
The commercial first debuted in parts of Asia in November 2009. Starting on November
13
th
, 2009, the commercial premiered on CNN U.S., CNN Breaking News, and CNN
World for the following six weeks. It also aired in Europe later in that year.

From the creation of the idea to the successful broadcast in major Western countries, the
Chinese government paid a close attention to every step of this campaign. Since the
general idea of “product made in China” is not specially referring to a certain industry but
a broad feeling towards any product made from China, the campaign actually requires
cooperation and support from different industries. Finally, four different professional
industry associations, including China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of
Machinery and Electronic Products, China Advertising Association of Commerce, China
Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Light Industrial Products and Arts-crafts,
and China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export, participated in creation of the
commercial. The appearance of these four industries in the commercial is crucial and
strategic. Machinery and electronic products are a very important part of export in
international business since those products represent the newest technology development
in a country, such as aeronautical accessories, electronic appliance and automobile
industry. Therefore, an acceptance of these products in Western society plays a decisive
role in changing the negative association in people’s mind. Export of light industrial
products represents a large percentage of the total export from China. At the same time,
such type of export business has grown rapidly in recent years. Shoes, furniture, toy,
glass and china products have already taken up the first place in global export business in
41
each industry. Moreover, a report published from China Chamber of Commerce for
Import and Export of Light Industrial products and Art-crafts shows the U.S. as the
largest market for those light industrial products. With 81 billion dollars of trading every
year, the market absorbs almost one third of these similar products produced from
China
29
. In speaking of Textiles industry that received the most severe impact in export
from the 2008 financial crisis, the total business in 2009 was 163 billion dollars, an 11
percent decrease comparing with what it was in 2008. In face of a shrinking market
globally, it is also very strategic for Textiles industry to change Western consumer’s
negative perceptions.

In the execution part of the campaign, the Chinese government set a high standard in
selecting the advertising agency in order to get the best communication effects. DDB
Guoan, a Chinese branch of the Manhattan-based agency DDB, won the project from the
Chinese government. According to the vice president of China Advertising Association
of Commerce, a major reason of choosing DDB Guoan is because of its international
background.
One of our important considerations is globalize, we want to create a commercial
that can be easily accepted by people in Western countries. The commercial plan
provided from this company well-fit the international style.
30

This international focus on communicating the information that other parties are
interested in can be very helpful in increasing the overall effectiveness of the commercial.

29
China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Light Industrial products and Art-crafts (2007).
Data of Annual Import and Export. Retrieved from http://www.cccla.org.cn/

30
Liu L.B. (2009, December 3). “Made in China, Made with the World” Campaign Press Conference.
Retrieved from http://old.cccme.org.cn/cn/news/details.asp?id=39207
42

Goals of the Campaign
In general, the major theme of the commercial is to emphasize the importance of
cooperation and participation under today’s global economy. It is intended to show
consumers around the world that China is working together with the best of the world to
produce high quality products that are on the market today. From this perspective, “Made
in China” is essentially the same as “Made with the world”. In addition, the Chinese
government also wants the commercial to serve as a friendly reminder of the contribution
that the Chinese economy has made to the world, thus hoping to create a more positive
feeling towards Chinese made goods. The following two points serve as the secondary
goals of this campaign according to what the Chinese official stated in “Made in China,
Made with the World” campaign press conference.

Point one: China is a responsible country that has significantly contributed to the further
development of world’s economy in recent years. After the Open and Reform Period in
the 1980’s, China has actively participated in economic globalization. “Made in China”
products with good quality and reasonable pricing play an important role in reducing the
cost of production as well as optimizing the allocation of resources on a global level.
During the financial crisis in 2008, the Chinese government provided over four trillion
RMB (about 615 billion dollars) toward world economic recovery by offering more
business opportunities to companies around the world. This is another side of China, a
side that is seldom seen and appreciated by people around the world. Although this is an
43
indirect goal that is not clearly reflected in the commercial, the Chinese government
would like to use the commercial as a platform to inspire a deeper thinking about the
presence of China on a global scale and the quality of products that are made from the
country.

Point two: products made from China have encountered unfair treatment under extreme
business protection agendas in some countries. The commercial serves as a silent protest
that the Chinese government is being held on the international stage. The latest theory on
the imbalance of the global market has resulted in the growth of international business
protection practices. Some countries use product quality and specifications as excuses for
establishing economic barrier, an attempt to restrict the export of other nations as a
method to deal with their economic crisis. This action actually causes more harm to the
recovery of global economy. Thus, another intention of this commercial is to appeal to
countries around the world to allow the free flow and trade of goods base on demand
instead of other factors.

Targeted Audience
Different from “Experience China” campaign, which mainly targeted at Westerners in
order to improve their understanding about China, “Made in China, Made with the
World” campaign also take domestic audience into consideration since a series of food
safety scandals that happened in the country has aroused great dissatisfaction and anger
among the public. The Chinese government hopes the broadcast of this commercial will
44
help boost the nation’s cohesion and increase people’s confidence toward domestic
businesses and products.

U.S. public: People in U.S. are the main audience that this campaign wants to target at.
Deeply tangled in the 2008 economic crisis, Americans are losing the last remaining
confidence in the economy. As a result, Western countries are more reluctant to admit an
uprising trend is happening in China, a country that is more likely to be a competitor
instead of a partner to them in future years. Their long-established misunderstandings of
China as well as a range of product safety issues covered in the American media have
only strengthened their old perception about the country and its products. Under this
situation, it becomes more crucial to put the people of the biggest economy in the world
as the top priority. Although it is impossible to change their perception immediately, this
grassroots activity can at least provide Americans with some new information about
China, thus increasing their understanding of the country.

People in European and Asia: The misconception about China does not only exist in U.S.,
but also in other regions. West Europe and Southeast Asia are two areas that have a
relative strong disproof of China. From China’s perspective, it is very strategic to develop
a long-term relationship with European countries and stay well-engaged with its public.
First, for a long time EU is the biggest business partner and export market for China as a
considerable number of “made in China” products ship to this region. Also, the mutual
business investment between EU and China is large as well. At the end of 2008,
45
corporations in EU have invested in 33,000 projects in China with a total amount of 120
billion dollars. At the same time, China also heavily invested in Europe. In 2007 alone,
China contributed 1.24 billion dollars in European region.
31
Therefore, gaining the public
understanding and increase “made in China” products’ reputation in their mind will help
consolidate the partnership between the two countries. The same also applies to countries
in Southeast Asia. People in this region have a love-hate relationship with China. From a
geographic perspective, people in China and Southeast Asia have a lot of similarity in
terms of their culture and ideology system. However, they are also direct competitors in
attracting Western business and investment. The commercial targets public in this region
by highlighting the similarity and mutual benefits as a result of cooperation between each
other, shifting the public opinion from the “hate” feeling to more “love” feeling in
Southeast area of Asia.

Domestic public: Although people in China are the third layer of targeted audience in this
campaign, the feedback of the commercial from this group of people proved to be the
most positive one. According to a survey conducted on SINA, one of the four largest
Chinese websites with over 100 million registered users worldwide, among 25,086
participants, 76.2 percent of them agree that the commercial will help improve “made in
China” brand’s reputation overseas and contribute to the further development of China’s

31
Ministry of Commerce. (2009). Prosperous Economic Development between China and EU. Retrieved
from http://intl.ce.cn/zhuanti/kf/qt/200908/19/t20090819_19821363.shtml

46
economy in the future
32
. The importance in sending the message to the public
domestically is because China’s international image always closely ties to and reflects
back on its national identity. In other words, the nation’s image perceived abroad has
serious consequences for its credibility and legitimacy at home.
33
Given the fact that
Chinese-made products have raised many discontents from domestic consumers in recent
year, the commercial with a positive message about quality will not only reassures the
Chinese public, but also boost confident when people see the actions (execution of the
campaign overseas) that the government is undertaking to improve the country’s image.

Message Conveyed through the Commercial
The central theme of the campaign is to highlight the concept of collaboration and
integration under the current international context. All of the elements in the commercial,
including picture presentation, tagline, and the story structure, are pointed to its main
purpose of highlighting the importance of “international partnership”. Chinese diplomacy
expert Jian Wang, an associate professor in USC School of Communication, once
mentioned
The central argument in this campaign is not “Made in China” but “Made with
China”. It is a valid argument because if one think about the contemporary
business process, it is true that the made-in label is antiquated. People engage

32
Sina News. (2010). How do you think about “Made in China, Made with the World” campaign?
Retrieved from http://survey.news.sina.com.cn/result/40135.html

33
Wang, J. (2011, May 4). Public Diplomacy with Chinese Characteristics. Retrieved from
http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/index.php/newswire/cpdblog_detail/public_diplomacy_with_chinese_charac
teristics/ USC Center on Public Diplomacy
47
business partners from all over the world to make a product and sell a product. As
a result, from this perspective, it is an important argument to make.
34

What the consumer usually considers as a product’s origin is not really the “origin”
anymore. Many products being displayed on the shelf are results of a combination of
intelligent design, modern manufacturing, and dexterous assembling from different
countries.

The creation of the five taglines in the commercial is closely connected to the campaign’s
main theme. All five of these taglines show a certain pattern in the beginning of each
phrase. They all started with “Made in China with…” There are three advantages in using
this pattern. First, by beginning with “Made in China” it directly keeps the audience’s
focuses on the targeted topic as viewers will immediately know what this commercial is
promoting. Second, it repeats in the beginning of each phrase help simplify the meaning
of the commercial so that people can easily understand the information. In addition, the
same beginning helps to shift viewers’ attention on the different part of the phrase. By
showing people that different countries contribute to the final product, the main purpose
is naturally understood by the audience.

Products appeared in the commercial also send its own message. In this advertisement,
there are five symbolic objects showed in the video clip. They are sneaker, refrigerator,
MP3, fashion clothing, and airplane. The selection of these five products has its own

34
Wang, J. (2009, December 8). Ads seek to rebrand “Made in China”. Retrieved from
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/ads-seek-rebrand-made-china
48
meanings. In the first place, the industries that the five products represent are the majority
of China’s annual export. For example, China’s shoes export business represents over 65
percent of the world’s export in shoes, achieving first place globally both in terms of
quantity and value. China’s refrigerator export has also showed an astonishing increase
even under the influence of economic crisis. In 2008 alone, the value of the appliance
export increased by 31 percent while the quantity improved by 37 percent
35
. Also, the
four of five products used in the commercial are the daily commodities that everyone can
connect to. The advantage of using these daily commodities is that they give the public a
familiar feeling when watching the video by reminding them that made-in-China
products are in everyone’s daily life. As a matter of fact, all of these products have deep
attachments to everyone’s daily activities. Therefore, it would be easier for people to
make the connection between China and these popular consumer products.

Like what was said in the campaign press conference, everything that was picked up and
used in the commercial was intended to send out a message. The Chinese government
aims to build a positive resonance in the mind of the people when it comes to “Made-In-
China” products by emphasizing the presence of global cooperation in the product that
China makes today.

35
Tencent News. (2010, November 16). The export of refrigerator business gains steadily. Retrieved from
http://tech.qq.com/a/20101116/000386.htm
49
Chapter Four: Media Monitor of Two Campaigns

Ever since the circulation of the first newspaper in the world, the news media has
demonstrated its prominence by influencing the public agenda on the society. By
selecting which news appears on the media and how much time or space allocating to
each of them, an imperceptible yet salient message is transferred from the media to the
public. The news agency can focus people’s attention and shaping their perception by
giving the public something to discuss on a daily basis. From this perspective, we are
able to gauge the two campaigns’ influence on society by measuring reactions from news
media on both sides.

Experience China Campaign
Generally speaking, although Experience China campaign generated some news coverage
on mainstream media in America, it failed to gather a strong momentum to attract
people’s attention nationwide. The following list is a collection of relative reports about
the campaign from mainstream American media.

Title: China’s Publicity Ads Arrive in Times Square
Source: The New York Times
Date: January 18, 2011
Tone: Neutral
Key Message: Introduce the fact that China is having a nation image campaign in Times
Square with further details about the video’s display format and running period. The
news does not include any comments in the article.

50
Title: China Unveils Promo Video in New York’s Times Square
Source: Voice of America
Date: January 18, 2011
Tone: Neutral
Key Message: Besides a direct delivery of basic facts about the campaign, it also includes
two quotes from pedestrians, which are both positive. In addition, it contains a mild
criticism from a PR consultant who focuses on Chinese media. The person expresses
concern about the actual effect of the advertisement in American society and the public’s
doubts towards what China does rather than what it says.

Title: Pro-China Ad Makes Broadway Debut
Source: The Wall Street Journal, China Real-time Report
Date: January 18, 2011
Tone: Neutral leaning towards Negative
Key Message: More detailed introduction of picture presentation of the campaign,
including messages and people showed in the video while pointing out the commercial is
being out of touch with Americans since the people appeared in the video clip are
unfamiliar to American public. It also quoted from an American marketing executive by
saying that the commercial serves more as flaunting China’s accomplishments than as
establishing a connection with local public.

Title: As Hu Visits Washington, Chinese Ads Take Over Times Square
Source: Time
Date: January 19, 2011
Tone: Neutral
Key Message: A short article with less than 200 characters delivers basic facts about the
campaign, with the intention of analyzing it under a more broad political perspective of
China’s President’s visit of U.S. at the same period of time.

Title: China’s Failed Charm Offensive
Source: Newsweek
Date: January 19, 2011
Tone: Negative
Key Message: This is an opinion piece that criticized the commercial harshly. By citing
quotes from experts in China, such as a head of the Sino-American affair at Tsinghua
University, the author aimed to prove the ineffective of commercial from two points.
First, the topic itself is too broad to include in a 60-second video clip. Second, the content
failed to resonate with Western public because audiences do not recognize people shown
in the video, hence rendering the video ineffective and confusing in some aspect.

51
Title: China Ad Blitz Coming To U.S. With Hu Jintao
Source: Forbes
Date: January 14, 2011
Tone: Neutral leaning towards Negative
Key Message: The author of the article listed a series of actions that the Chinese
government has done in recent times. By simply narrating the facts instead of
commenting on any movements that China did, the article triggers audiences’ deeper
analysis on the true image of China in their minds.

The Experience China campaign did generate some discussions among personal blogs
and regional websites in U.S.; however it failed to attract eyeballs from mainstream
media. From an immediacy perspective, all coverage was published in a timely manner.
The debut of the commercial in Times Square was on January 17, 2011, most articles
were published on the second day of its debut, showing a rapid response to the campaign
in general. From a news content analysis perspective, besides the reports listed above, it
is quite difficult to find any other news coverage elsewhere. Mainstream TV networks,
such as ABC and CNN, did not report on the debut of the commercial, while other
newspaper giants, including the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, did not
contribute any newspaper space to this topic either. An unenthusiastic attitude was also
found in the trade magazine. Even though it is a big step for China to run such grass roots
campaign with the purpose of boosting the nation’s image in the mind of Western public
through the format of advertising, Advertising Age failed to publish an article around the
campaign. For the news media that reported on the topic, most published articles on
newspaper mainly served fact delivery and explanation purposes. News coverage was
simple, concise, centered on the introduction of the content of the commercial and
emphasized on the iconic place of Time Square. Opinion piece on magazines all appeared
52
to be critical, either by quoting from experts in communication academia or by stating
other actions that the Chinese government did in international society. Most articles
expressed serious doubts about the actual effect the commercial has in terms of changing
the perception about China in the American society. Therefore, the tone of the coverage
was neutral at best and more of negative lean when it came to opinions. However, it is
interesting to point out that some of these articles posted on the media outlets’ official
websites were followed by various comments from audiences online. For example, the
article on the Wall Street Journal website generated 59 comments, and news coverage on
TIME website lead to 16 Face book “likes” and 12 “tweets” in twitter. Online social
media provides other channels for people who have the same interests to meet together
and create buzz for a certain topic.

Comparing to an overwhelming skeptical tone saturated in the American news media, the
news articles on China’s side seemed to be more celebratory and supportive, both from
official publications and reaction of ordinary people in the Chinese society. The
following list represents a summary of news coverage from mainstream media in China.

Title: National Image Lights up Times Square
Source: China Daily
Date: January 19, 2011
Tone: Positive
Key Message: This long news coverage addresses the campaign from several different
perspectives. It not only shows the detail about the commercial, but also gives audience
an introduction about a longer version of the promotional film that came with the
commercial in the campaign. Experts that the author quoted are mainly from Chinese
academia and advertising industry in order to show a welcome attitude on China’s side.
The article also contains three short interviews on the street, all of which are positive.

53
Title: “Experience China” Debuts at NYC’s Times Square
Source: Xinhua News Agency
Date: January 18, 2011
Tone: Positive
Key Message: Besides basic facts narration, the article focuses on two major interviews
on the Times Square. An 18-year old high school student expresses his excitement when
he recognized Yao Ming in the video clip and states the importance of Sino-American
relationship that he learned from the classroom. Another interview features a tourist from
China and the pride triggered by watching Chinese advertisement in a foreign country.

Title: Video: China Image Commercial debuts in Times Square
Source: Phoenix TV
Date: January 18, 2011
Tone: Neutral
Key Message: A two-minutes news debriefing on Phoenix TV news hour is concentrated
on delivering the facts about the commercial, including its broadcast period and
frequency. Some indirect quotes from the campaign press conference are introduced to
explain the reason of such movement from a government perspective.

Title: Video: Studio Interview – Will the China Image Show be Effective?
Source: CCTV
Date: January 26, 2011
Tone: Neutral leaning towards Positive
Key Message: The host discusses the effectiveness of the commercial with CCTV
commentator. The person being interviewed gives positive feedbacks about the campaign.
While answering the question about other methods in promoting China, the commentator
states that taking a proactive action in every aspect of the society will help improve the
Westerners’ view of China, but it is still a long term effort.

Title: Video: Back Story Behind “Experience China”
Source: CCTV
Date: January 26, 2011
Tone: Positive
Key Message: This three-minute video shown on CCTV international channel gives
audience a general introduction about the campaign. The introduction not only includes
the commercial but about the film as well. It interviews the producer of the video and let
him speak about the purpose behind the creation of the video and the interesting stories
behind the scenes, all as an effort to generate positive association with the campaign.

The news coverage about the campaign in China showed several differences from that in
America. The most significant difference is the tone of the news coverage. Chinese news
54
agencies generally shows an accommodating attitude towards the campaign as they
perceived it symbolizing the beginning of a proactive approach of the Chinese
government’s external communication in actively engaging with the international
community. From the news content perspective, with the exception of one media where
the delivery method was pure fact driven, other news platforms all utilized some form of
third-party endorsement to convey its message. Almost all interviewers, from experts to
pedestrians, from America to China, stated their favorable support of the commercial. In
addition, unlike the news coverage on the American side that concentrated all reporting
of the commercial within the first week of its debut, the Chinese news media followed the
campaign for a longer time. After three weeks of the commercial’s appearance in Times
Square, the international channel of Central China TV (CCTV) was running discussions
around the topic. As a matter of fact, there was a second wave of news reporting related
to this campaign in China during October of 2011 a half a year after the initial
commercial when a second clip titled “China on the Way” was released to the published
in front of the public.

“Made in China, Made with the World” Campaign
If the reporting the “Experience China” campaign primarily on a facts-delivering level,
news media in the U.S. did gave a closer look at the “Made in China, Made with the
World” campaign as the general length of the articles regarding this campaign appeared
to be much longer and detailer than the former one.

55
Title: News Ad Campaign Touts “Made in China”
Source: USA Today
Date: January 08, 2010
Tone: Neutral
Key Message: Instead of giving the viewers an elaborate description of the content of the
advertisement, the article is mainly focused on explaining of the reason for running such
commercial. A list of recalled products imported from China reminds the audience about
the damaged “Made in China” reputation in the mind of Westerners. Five people were
also quoted to prove the necessity of running such campaign.

Title: China Launches Ad Campaign to Improve Product Image
Source: Voice of America
Date: January 02, 2010
Tone: Neutral leaning towards negative
Key Message: In the first part of the article, the author presents detailed information
about the campaign, including the introduction of commissioned associations and Ad
agency that created the commercial. The author later cited several quotes from two
experts in America: one is supportive while the other is dismissive about the campaign.
The article renders more on a negative front as the author doubted the ad will make any
difference in people’s perception.

Title: China Launches Ad Campaign to Salvage Global Image
Source: Reuters
Date: December 01, 2009
Tone: Neutral
Key Message: A large part of the article focused on introducing the content of the
commercial, objectively telling the viewers the message conveyed in the campaign and
what the Chinese government wants to achieve through such movement. It also provided
some background information on the baby formula scandal and the Chinese
government’s reaction to the negative news coverage.

Title: Ad Campaign tries to elevate “Made in China” tag’s Cachet
Source: The Los Angeles Times
Date: December 07, 2009
Tone: Neutral leaning towards negative
Key Message: Besides introducing the basic information about the campaign, the author
also put his review in a broader perspective, and talked about the trade restrictions that
EU placed on Chinese products and China’s reaction to this policy. Several quotes were
cited, with most of them being negative. A mild doubtful attitude showed in the article as
the author wondered if this marketing effort is linked to any real high level policy
improvements.

56
Title: A Makeover Attempt for “Made in China”
Source: The Wall Street Journal, China Realtime Report
Date: November 27, 2009
Tone: Neutral
Key Message: A very succinct report with less than 100 words that served as information
delivery. The author does not include any positions and personal opinion as it only
informs the readers the latest news on China.

Almost one year prior to the running of “Experience China” campaign, this commercial
was viewed as the first bid that the Chinese government did for global branding. Because
of this, a lot of mainstream news media covered on the new movement by Beijing to
build its image building. From reporting content’s perspective, many articles not only
focused on delivering the news, but also dug quite deeply into the modern role that
Chinese commerce plays in the international community. When it came to the opinion
section of the coverage, the tone of the report became negative, as the message is
unavoidably associated with several Chinese products scandals earlier in that year. The
immediacy of news reporting was not necessarily applicable in this case since the ad
showed on TV for a period of six weeks. Therefore, news related to this campaign was
published from late November 2009 to early January of 2010. Actively engaged
audiences were seen in various online articles through social platform, which gave
audiences an opportunity to express their own ideas as well as listen to those of others.
For example, the article posted on USA Today’s website had received 303 comments,
and shared 20 times through other social media tools.

The campaign generated a wide discussion inside of China. Almost all news media
outlets, nationally or locally, devoted coverage to this topic. In order to provide a general
57
look of the news report in China, only articles published from state level news outlet are
discussed here as they essentially represent the tone and content of the news nationwide.

Title: Beijing Selling China to the World
Source: China Daily
Date: December 01, 2009
Tone: Positive
Key Message: The article gives basic information about the campaign, including the
participating associations, the ad agency, and the content of the commercial. It cites many
quotes from the campaign press conference, so the tone of the news is similar to what
being said from the officials.

Title: “Made in China” Ad Campaign Wins Applause in China
Source: Xinhua News Agency
Date: December 06, 2009
Tone: Positive
Key Message: With most of the article space devoted to quotes from varies people with
different professionals, the article aimed to lend support to Beijing’s movement. Since
half of the quotes were cited from government officials, the tone is in accordance with the
government. The author also uses research data and various figures to support the
campaign’s central idea of integration that the creation of any product is the result of
engagement from many countries, and emphasizes on the importance of cooperation on a
world level.

Title: “Made in China” Ad at Shanghai F1
Source: China Daily
Date: April 16, 2010
Tone: Positive
Key Message: The author in the article only uses Formula One World Championship as a
start; he introduces other latest movements that the Chinese government done for the
campaign. A detailed background description of the campaign is also provided.

Title: Ad on CNN Helps Promote Image of “Made in China”
Source: People’s Daily
Date: December 04, 2009
Tone: Neutral
Key Message: This is a fact delivery piece with fair amount of space going to the
introduction of the campaign. The only person quoted in the article is the host of the
campaign’s press conference. It also works on explain the reason of choosing CNN to run
the ad and the possible movements in the future.

58
Title: Video: What does China want to convey through “Made in China” TV Ad
Source: CCTV
Date: December 02, 2009
Tone: Positive
Key Message: This four minutes interview was broadcasted in the China Today segment
on CCTV International Channel. One professor from University of International Business
and Economics explains the timing of the campaign and the message conveyed through
the commercial.

In general, Chinese media outlets showed a supportive tone in their coverage of the news.
Such supportive attitude is not hard to understand as most media in China are still state-
owned. Therefore, it is very natural and reasonable to endorse such campaign to
galvanize people’s positive reaction from the media side. In terms of the extent of media
coverage, both the English channels of China’s largest news entities, such as CCTV and
People’s Daily, and province-level media outlets paid close attention on every details of
the campaign. It is also important to point out that the social media in China also
contributed a significant role in disseminating the campaign message. The major video
viewing sites in China, such as Youku, Ku6 and Tudou, devoted a specific channel in
publishing the commercial and related video clips. For example, the commercial posted
on Youku, one of the largest video sharing website in China, generated more than 45,000
viewers and hundreds of comments. Any news report related to this campaign would
usually gain thousands of views, which is another reflection of the enthusiastic attitude
from the Chinese public.

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Chapter Five: Focus Group Analysis

In order to truly understand the effectiveness of the two Chinese government campaigns,
“Made in China, Made with the World” and “Experience China”, a focus group study
was conducted on December 31, 2011 in Los Angeles. The focus group question guide
was created in advance
36
, aiming to examine people’s opinions and attitudes toward those
two campaigns. The questions covered the following three areas, a content analysis
regarding the clarity and understandability of both commercials, an execution analysis on
the picture, tagline, music, backgrounds and pacing of the commercials, and an attitude
analysis on how well do these two commercials change people’s perception about China
and achieve the campaign goals.

Hoping to conduct a group interview for the graduation thesis, the author randomly
selected the focus group respondents from her social circle. As a result, the survey
participants are more professional, educated people. They demonstrated diversity both
from a demographic and experience perspective. Firstly, there were an equal number of
males and females who participated in the focus group. Among those 10 respondents,
five were males and five were females. The gender balance during the group interview
excluded the possibility that the total opinions expressed in the panel maybe favorable
from only one point of view. Secondly, different professional backgrounds of the
respondents also ensured a broader range in terms of people’s emotional reaction and
analytical perception regarding the two commercials. The professions of the respondents

36
Focus group guide can be seen in Appendix.
60
included engineering, international business, operations, logistics, law, accounting and
graphic designing. Thirdly, 10 participants in the focus group have vastly different
personal backgrounds, which allowed them to judge the commercials from more
diversified point of views. Some respondents grew up in China and studied or worked in
U.S. after they became adults. Some respondents came from Taiwan. Some grew up in
Southeast Asia before immigrated to Central American the America. Some are American-
born Chinese. The respondents’ different personal, educational and social experiences
helped to increase the dialogue of the panel discussion as everyone were able to
contribute from their personal view and move the conversation into a deeper level. The
list of focus group respondents is shown below.
Table 2: Focus Group Members
Respondents Demographic
Lucy C.  Female
 26 years old
 Software Engineer
 Single, lives in San Jose
Kevin V.  Male
 31 years old
 Electrical Engineer
 Single, lives with roommates
Danni Cn  Female
 28 years old
 International Business Associate
 Married, lives in Chino Hills
Daniel S.  Male
 31 years old
 Shipping Logistics Supervisor
 Father of one, family living in Orange County
Adam L.  Male
 Professional Accountant
 Single, lives with family in Arcadia

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Table 2 (Continued)
Respondents Demographic
Molly C.  Female
 27 years old
 Professional Graphic Designer
 Single, lives with roommates
Stephanie C.  Female
 32 years old
 Lawyer
 Married
Brian H.  Male
 28 years old
 Quality Engineer
 Married
Angela C.  Female
 29 years old
 Business Transfer Coordinator
 Single
Kevin Z.  Male
 37 years old
 Operations Program Manager

The focus group was conducted in the meeting room of the moderator’s house. Together,
all interviewees watched the two commercial in a group. Each commercial was played
twice before the beginning of the focus group. In the first run, respondents were asked to
see the commercial from a general perspective, treating the commercial as if they happen
to see it on TV, and remembering the first impression they got from watching it. In the
second run, respondents were asked to pay attention to the execution part of the
commercial, including the picture presentation, music, tagline, and etc. The participants
were not allowed to communicate while watching the commercials. Both commercials
were shown again by request to refresh everyone’s mind during focus group discussion.
Besides the 10 participants, the focus group also included a note taker and a moderator.

62
During the discussion, each interviewee was given an opportunity to speak freely, while
the moderator merely guided the respondent and did very little to shape an answer from
anyone. In order to better interpret the results of the focus group, verbatim comments
have been provided as bullet points below to support the key findings. These findings are
based on the quality of respondents’ comments, the frequency and commonality of those
comments mentioned in the focus group discussion, and the overall relevance to the
research topic.

Overall, the awareness of these two Chinese government campaigns is rather low. Only
three people out of ten in the focus group mentioned they saw or heard about those two
commercials before. The memory retention of the commercial is quite low as well;
among the interviewees who reportedly saw the commercial in advance, only one
individual can barely recall where she saw the commercial and the content of it.
However, the interviewees gave widespread positive feedbacks about the efforts the
Chinese government done to promote its nation’s image. They believe these campaigns
not only give China a chance to showcase itself around the world, but also provide people
in Western countries an opportunity to know the multi-facets of China and have a clearer
image than they usually would get from their major broadcast networks. In addition, the
focus group felt the uniqueness of the advertisements along with the commercial’s goal in
improving China’s image are what make these two video clips stand out from other kinds
of product advertisements. As a result, the interviewees do not have a negative
association with these two advertisements comparing with other commercials that people
63
usually seen as a distraction from normal TV programs. All interviewees stated that they
do not mind watching the commercials again in any future occasions.

“Made in China, Made with the World” Commercial
How people responded to the content of commercial?
1. The meaning of the message showed in the commercial was understandable. People
generally knew the broad concept that the commercial wants to express to its targeted
audience.
 “From my understanding, I think what it tries to tell me is the product that we used
is not just made in China, but from contributions from all over the world.”
 “Clearly, the commercial is intended to change our perception about the product
made in China because we always think those kind of products are crappy and have
low quality. By showing some high-end products in the video, I think it is trying to
tell us China made a lot of contributions to those high quality goods.”
 “I can tell the commercial tries to alleviate that connotation.”

2. However, the message and the purpose of the commercial were not clearly conveyed
through the video as audiences had to make an effort to really think about the meaning
behind the frames. The meaning of the commercial was not expressed in a simple and
direct way for people to understand.
 “You can see it and you think about it, and then you get it. But it takes a while.”
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 “It not really straight forward to me. Like a product commercial, if it wants to tell
how good the product is, it usually lists its advantage A, B, and C; So it’s very clear
and simple for me to understand; But for this commercial, the concept of China
actually makes good-quality products is not expressed directly in the commercial.”

3. Products appeared in the commercial were not the best representatives of high-quality
products made in China since those were actually designed and created from other
countries.
 “The brands appear in the commercial are what we usually think made in other
countries instead of China. For me, I think iPod is definitely an American product,
and airbus is made from European. So, they are not the best representations of
products actually created in China.”
 “I think the commercial should use some high-quality products that originated from
China, such as home appliance and electronics. This will better present the idea that
China actually has the ability to use its own technology to create high-quality
products.”

4. The tagline used in the commercial did not improve China’s image as it intended to be,
it only increased the impression that China needs to collaborate with other developed
countries in order to make such products, which, ironically, strengthens the idea that
China is just a “factory” in the world manufacturing chain.
65
 “When it says ‘made in China with expertise from other countries’, it only tells me
that China does not have such expertise.”
 “The tagline consolidates my belief that China only makes the things that other
countries tell it to do.”
 “It does not target the quality issue at all.”
 “I think everybody already knows that those products are made in China. At the first
impression, it seems to alleviate the purpose of the commercial. But once you think
about it, the tagline tells you the opposite meaning from its intention.”

Execution Analysis
1. The final image of a commercial, which typically leaves a lasting impression to the
audience, actually confused the focus group members because the background narration
did not match with the textual presentation appeared in the image.
 “It has a ‘match issue’ in the last picture I saw in the commercial. The text ends with
‘Made with China’ but the background voice is saying ‘Made in China, Made with
the World’. So which one it really wants to tell us?”
 “I think because they want to keep a same format of the text on the picture
presentation, it changes ‘made in China’ to ‘made with China’ by flipping the world
‘in’ to ‘with’. However, it background voice tells you another information. It is too
complicated for people to process two different messages at the same time.”

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2. Due to the broad concept intended to be carried through in the commercial, 30 seconds
was too short to provide a convincing explanation. The time between each frame in the
commercial was so short that audiences could barely see and process the information in a
frame before it changes to the next one.
 “To be honest, I didn’t remember any product in the commercial…Is there an iPod?”
 “I think it is an airplane commercial since it is the last image appeared in that
episode.”
 “30 seconds too short, may be they should take a 60 seconds one. In that way,
people will have some time to think about the product and really process the
message.”
 “Fewer products and longer time might be better since the average time in each
picture presentation will be longer, giving people enough time to see the product.”

3. The textual presentation, which is a very important way for audience to extract
information from the advertisement, was small and shaky. Therefore, it decreases the
overall communication effectiveness of the commercial.
 “It was too small, and I didn’t really pay attention to it.”
 “Because it designed to appear in the product and the product is part of a picture. So
it’s part of the small screen. You have to really focus on that to read it.”
 “It did not catch my eye”

67
4. Background music was both necessary and appropriate in the commercial. Its strong
and compelling rhythm left a positive impression to the viewers.
 “The background music is necessary. I think it is weird if the commercial is quiet.”
 “I think the fast paced of the music matches the image of China wanted to be
portrayed. It definitely brings positive feelings, and it is another reflection that China
is also growing very fast in recent years.”

Attitude Analysis
1. In general, there was a mildly positive feeling generated from watching the video.
Seven people out of ten reported that they believe some positive information was
conveyed through the commercial and they did understand the purpose of the campaign
behind it. However, as the interviewees pointed it out, there are still many problems in
terms of the content and the execution of the commercial. The message being carried
through the commercial was unclear and did not fully represent the meaning behind the
commercial.
 “My reaction to this commercial is somewhat positive. This positive association
mainly comes from I finally see the Chinese government began to feel the urge and
did something with the intention to improve my understanding about China.”
 “In speaking of the execution, the commercial is not successful.”
 “After we see the commercial, the purpose of the commercial did not easily coming
out. If you can not let the audience understand what you are talking about after they
watch the video, the commercial is failure.”
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2. While positive feelings were triggered from watching the commercial, there was still a
huge gap between what people feel, what they think and what they do. All of the
interviewees reported that the commercial did little to change their perceptions about
products made from China, and their buying behavior can hardly be influenced just by a
commercial.
 “Whether I will buy the Chinese products is not depending on this commercial, it is
more depending on what I see the actions about China. If those negative stories and
scandals keep coming out, I do not think I will change my perception.”
 “I think for anyone, your buying behavior is hard to change since those habits might
exist for years. For example, if I want to buy shoes, the first brand coming into my
mind is Cole Haan. It fits me well and I do not need to change to a Chinese shoe
brand.”
 “I do not buy thing just according to where it made. If I like it, I will buy it. So even
I have some possible feeling about China, I do not necessarily buying thing just
because it is made from China”

“Experience China” Commercial
How people responded to the content of commercial?
It is interesting to find out that there is a dichotomy among interviewees in terms of the
content of the commercial. Some respondents agreed with the idea of using nation’s
celebrities to represent the image of a country while others believed famous people only
represent one aspect of a nation’s image and a full representation of a country should give
69
targeted audience a broad view of the country and emphasize on the uniqueness of other
areas as well.

For people who agree to use famous people to represent a nation’s image, their review of
the commercial includes:
1. Message conveyed through the commercial was clearly expressed and can be easily
understand by people who watch the video.
 “It tries to tell us, there are a lot of capable people in China, and they are
contributing their intelligence in different areas.”
 “Through the commercial, I saw great leaders and great athletes in China.”
 “An interesting commercial, it shows me different faces of China.”

2. Unfortunately, it was hard for respondents to build a personal connection with the
commercial since they did not recognize most of the faces showed in the advertisement.
 “Probably the only person I know in the commercial is Yao. There is a frame named
‘extraordinary Chinese people’, I didn’t know any of them, where can I have the
idea about how extraordinary they are?”
 “After I watch the video, I wouldn’t really think twice or I wouldn’t really feel
something since I have no idea about these people.”

70
3. Quality is more important than quantity. Respondents stated the commercial effects
could be better if they only use a few “world famous” Chinese faces rather than hundreds
of strange ones.
 “I’m sure they pick these people probably and they might be the best representative
of all the Chinese people. But if your targeted audience doesn’t know them, that is a
problem.”
 “It’s a good idea to use celebrity represent China image because every country does
that. It’s just like …for example, if you choose American celebrities, they are more
well-know. But if you give us a video of European superstars, we will probable
don’t know any of them. I think give us something we familiar are more
persuasive.”
 “Maybe just pick Yao, and do a commercial around him. That’ll be much more
interesting for me.”
 “Breaking into individual episode with some backgrounds, people will know what
they are talking about.”

For people who believe images of celebrities were not inclusive enough to represent a
nation’s image, their review of the commercial includes:
1. The message of the commercial, which only focus on the presentation of famous
people in China, seemed to be too simple and repetitive. As a matter of the fact, too many
“stars” actually brought a negative connotation as it reminded Western public that China
has the largest population base in the world.
71
 “I understand the video is emphasized on showing excellent people in China, and
this message is clear. But what do you want me to get from there?”
 “There’s only people, are there any other aspects?”
 “One idea coming into my mind when I was watching the commercial is that
Chinese people is coming, and comes with a large amount.”
 “Is it a reminder of China has the largest population in the world?”

2. The message lacked a linkage to the country’s image as a whole, therefore the
intention of boosting the nation’s image was difficult to achieve.
 “There are so many other nice things about China, and I did not see any of them
from here.”
 “The name of the campaign is ‘Experience China’, but I didn’t see how I
‘experience’. The content of the commercial doesn’t reflect to center meaning of the
campaign.”
 “If the purpose is to improve the entire image of China, I certainly didn’t see it
through the commercial.”
 “The video did not make me to think about other things of China. It is OK to watch
it, but what else?”

72
Execution Analysis
1. The pacing of the commercial was too fast for viewers to follow. There were a total
number of 22 frames presented within 60 seconds. Also, the average of four to five
people appearing at the same time within each frame was another challenge for audience
to digest the information under such a quick pace.
 “Too fast.”
 “Too many people on the screen at the same time.”
 “When you try to see who is doing what, when you read the words, the next screen
is coming.”

2. Background music was considered necessary in the commercial and definitely
appropriate.
 “I noticed the music is very traditional”
 “The music rhythm exactly matches with the changing of the slide.”

3. Background insertions were necessary in this commercial as well since it provided
another way to help communicate with the potential audience. Backgrounds used in the
video clip were appropriate and attracted viewer’s attention.
 “They are very nice and beautiful.”
 “I think it’s necessary. The backgrounds that show landmarks and tourist attractions
provide another channel to provide us more information about China.”

73
Attitude Analysis
1. Six interviewees out of ten reported that they developed some positive feelings about
China after watch this commercial. According to discussion feedbacks, those positive
feelings were mostly originated from the visual appeals and the quality of the picture
presentation in the commercial. Interviewees stated that they enjoyed the process of
viewing the advertisement. The other four respondents had a neutral opinion in terms of
the feelings triggered from watching the video. This is mainly because they were not
being able to recognize most of the faces appeared in the commercial. The lack in
psychological connection with the commercial stars made this video clip less appeal to
them.
 “The picture presentation is really nice, that attracts me.”
 “If I was in China, I might be very excited to see so many of those celebrities
appeared in the same commercial. Since I do not know most of them, I do not have
that excited feeling”
 “This commercial might have better effects to broadcast in China, it more serve as
improve national pride.”

2. Interestingly enough, even though not all of the respondents had a positive feeling
about the advertisement, they all reported that their perception about the image of China
have changed somewhat after watching the video clip. Putting the content of the
commercial aside, the action and effort of running a nation’s promotional advertisement
with the target of Western countries’ audiences, especially Americans, is already a big
74
step in people’s eyes. This action showed that the Chinese people are becoming more
open-minded, and China is willing to take a proactive approach to involve and integrate
with the world politics and business, an effort that will improve the image of China.
 “I think it is the right thing for the Chinese government to do, especially Americans
have so many misunderstandings about China.”
 “If the commercial could be created for us to build more associations, the
communication effect will definitely be better.”

75
Chapter Six: Conclusion

The concept of branding has a lot of similarity when we apply to a country as to a
business. As branding expert Jian Wang pointed out, the idea of branding refers to the
process of defining, delivering and maintaining the identification of an object to achieve
differentiation, uptake and relationship among its target audiences.
37
From this
perspective, branding a country, as in branding a product or service, also requires
building and managing an image that triggers resonation among its targeted audience.
However, the implementation of such image-building for a country is notoriously more
complicated than for a business. First of all, it is usually difficult for a singular message
or activity to achieve effective communication among different countries that are
composed of various groups of audiences. Secondly, the intended message that the host
country wants to resonate is often largely diminished, if not completely erased, when it is
being interpreted in the international community. Longstanding stereotypes and culture
barriers prove to be major obstacles in the process of national branding. Under such
consideration, the development of any national related campaigns should be carefully
considered before execution. In this final chapter, the author will provide a summary of
the focus group results, with suggestions on future improvements for each discussed
campaign. Then the paper will focus on a general perspective on the current social trend
and environment that might have significant implications for any future government

37
Wang, J. (2010, February). Nation Branding: not Just a Logo. Retrieved from
http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/publications/pdinmonitor/PDiNM_Feb2010.pdf
76
communication efforts. Hopefully, the provided suggestions can serve as an insight into
possible improvements of future Chinese national campaigns.
“Made in China, Made with the World” campaign, with the intention of improving the
international image of products made from China, would receive a better review if the
commercial was executed more properly. One of the key findings from the focus group
was on the length of the commercial. A run length of thirty seconds is not long enough to
give viewers a convincing explanation and leave them with a lasting impression on the
content of the advertisement, especially when we consider most of the targeted audiences
already have a long established negative opinion toward the product made from China.
Also, inappropriate use of products and tagline in the commercial was another problem
that most respondents pointed to. If the purpose of the campaign was to make people
believe China has the skills, innovations, and technologies necessary to create
sophisticated products, then the products appeared in the advertisement should be
“originated” from China. In other words, the symbolic appearances in the commercial are
not well connected with the meaning of the campaign, which made it difficult for targeted
audience to understand the true message behind the commercial.

Always putting what targeted audiences’ think and feel in the first place when creating a
commercial might be one of the most important lessons learned from “Experience China”
campaign. Although focus group interviewees had different opinions towards using
celebrities to represent the image of a country, they all agreed that their lack of
recognition of these “famous” faces in the clip significantly decreased the commercial’s
77
interest and appeal to them. Therefore, the commercial looked more like a video created
for global Chinese audiences to boost their Chinese pride than for Western societies to
increase their perception of China. Also, in this case, more does not necessarily mean the
merrier. The message delivered through a 60 seconds clip should be clear, simple, and
direct. However, showing dozens of people in such a short video poses a great challenge
for viewers to extract information, and leaving them no time to reflect on the purpose
behind information. As a result, the effectiveness of this communication effectiveness is
tremendously reduced due to the sheer quantity of personnel presented.

For any campaigns that expect to trigger public’s attention, it needs to tie in with the
growing trend on the society. In today’s world, the ever growing popularity of online
platforms is becoming a new communication tool that has the ability to sway public
opinions. The frequent use of social media in everyone’s daily activity can generate a
momentum for any campaign. Both of the two Chinese national campaigns triggered a
widespread discussion online after their initiation introduction. The “like” and “share”
functions from these social media forums provide a second opportunity to convey any
message to a larger audience base. As been mentioned in the earlier chapters, the news
coverage of both campaigns triggered hundreds, if not thousands, of comments and views
online. This virtual platform gives people with mutual interest a place to meet and push
the discussion into a deeper level. As a matter of fact, the news media, a public agenda
setting agency, is becoming more reliant on this online platform to gauge the public
opinion, interests, and newly developed trend in the society. Therefore, any
78
communication strategy, especially an external activity that faces the challenge of
reaching a foreign community from a traditional perspective, should take social media
into consideration, as these spontaneous, individualistic grassroots efforts can effectively
help disseminate and communicate information from any campaigns.

Action speaks louder than words. With the aim of improving Western public’s perception
of China through grass roots activities, the execution of two Chinese government
campaigns gained positive reviews both from academia and public on two sides; however,
doubts and distrustful attitudes were also reported, especially from the American side,
regarding the overall effectiveness of the campaign results. When we appraise the
proactive approach of the Chinese government to improve its international image, we
should also notice the fact that the same affinities that the campaign manage to build in
the Western world are also countered by all the malign practices by China not only from
a state level but also from behaviors of Chinese companies and the general public. In the
long run, the improvement of China’s national image should not rely on some superficial
momentums gained from national communication strategies, but from the achievement of
a new national promise, a promise by the government to rebuild this ancient country from
the bottom up into a civilization that is based on democracy, equality, and openness, all
of which will sure resonate with the rest of the international community.

79
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82

Appendix: Focus Group Guide
I. Opening Questions
1. Could you please state your name, age, and occupation?

II. Introductory Questions
1. Have you ever seen or heard about these two commercials before?
2. If yes, where did you saw the commercials?
TV/Electronic bill board/Online Video-sharing website/Social media
3. What is your opinion regarding the idea that the Chinese government is
running ads to promote the nation’s image?
Weird/Interesting
4. Do you mind watching them if you happen to see them?

“Made in China Made with world”

III. Key Questions – Part 1
Content Analysis
1. What do you think this commercial wants to tell you?
Is the message clearly expressed in the commercial?
 Goals of the campaign: highlight how Chinese and overseas firms work
together to produce high-quality goods. Intend to change people’s
perception from “made in China” to “made with China”
2. Is the message conveyed in the commercial understandable?
Did any content of the commercial confused you in any way?
3. From scale 1-10 with 10 as the best, how you rate this commercial and why?

Execution Analysis
4. Do you think the products appear in the commercial, such as Nike, iPod, and
fashion clothing, are the best representative of the products “Made with
China”? Why?
5. How do you think the tagline used in the commercial? Do you think it’s
persuasive?
 “Made in China with American sports technology”
 “Made in China with European styling”
 “Made in China with software from Silicon Valley”
 “Made in China with French designer”
 “Made in China with engineers from all over the world”
6. What do you think of the picture presentation in the commercial?
7. Have you pay any attention in the music used in the commercial? Do you
think the background music was appropriate?
83

Attitude Analysis
8. Overall, is there any positive or negative feelings generated from watching the
commercial?
9. How well the commercial does in terms of changing your perception about
products made with China?
10. Will you be more likely to buy products that made with China after you saw
the commercial?

“Experience China”
IV. Key Questions – Part 2
Content Analysis
1. What do you think this commercial wants to tell you?
Is the message clearly expressed in the commercial?
 Goals of the campaign: Increase the nation image perceived by people all
around the world, especially America
2. Is the message conveyed in the commercial understandable?
Did any content of the commercial confused you in any way?
3. From scale 1-10 with 10 as the best, how you rate this commercial and why?

Execution Analysis
4. Do you think the people appear in the commercial are the best representatives
of the China’s image? Why?
5. There are 22 frames in this 60-second video, do you think the time spent on
each frame was adequate?
6. Did you pay attention to the music used in the commercial? Do you think the
background music was appropriate?
7. Did you pay attention to the background of each frame? Do you think it is
necessary or appropriate? Tourist attraction and landmarks.

Attitude Analysis
8. Overall, is there any positive or negative feelings generated from watching the
commercial?
9. How well the commercial does in terms of changing your perception about
China’s image?

V. Ending Questions
1. Does anyone have any final thoughts they would like to add before we
conclude this focus groups?

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Asset Metadata

Creator Yuan, Tian (author)

Core Title The new great leap forward: a two-case analysis of modern China's efforts in external communication strategies

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Strategic Public Relations

Publication Date 04/16/2012

Defense Date 04/16/2012

Publisher Los Angeles, California (original), University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag China,external communication,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Wang, Jian ""Jay"" (committee chair), LeVeque, Matthew (committee member), Lynch, Brenda (committee member)

Creator Email tianyuan@usc.edu,yuantian1985@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-5841

Unique identifier UC1113858

Identifier usctheses-c3-5841 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-YuanTian-612.pdf

Dmrecord 5841

Document Type Thesis

Rights Yuan, Tian

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA