Liu Ru'nan: Vigorously Enhance the Nation’s Cultural Soft Power and the Influence of Chinese Culture
In October 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping issued important instructions regarding public communication and cultural work, emphasizing the need to "continuously enhance national cultural soft power and the influence of Chinese culture, providing a strong ideological guarantee, powerful spiritual strength, and favorable cultural conditions for comprehensively building a modern socialist country and comprehensively advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation." The Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Advancing Chinese-path Modernization, adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, identified "enhancing national cultural soft power and the influence of Chinese culture" as a vital component of "focusing on building a leading socialist cultural power." This provides a fundamental follows-up [1] for strengthening the reach and influence of Chinese culture, coalescing the majestic strength of Chinese-path modernization, and building a leading socialist cultural power.
Enhancing national cultural soft power and the influence of Chinese culture must be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has delivered a series of important discourses and made significant deployments regarding these objectives, guiding cultural construction toward remarkable achievements.
In 2013, during the 12th collective study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "improving national cultural soft power is vital to the realization of the 'Two Centenaries' [2] goals and the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation." At the 2018 National Conference on Public Communication and Ideological Work, he noted: "To present an image means we must advance the construction of international communication capacity, tell China’s story well, spread China’s voice well, present a credible, multi-dimensional, and panoramic view of China to the world, and improve national cultural soft power and the influence of Chinese culture." On October 28, 2024, during the 17th collective study session of the Political Bureau, he again emphasized the continuous enhancement of these factors. His important speeches profoundly explain the profound significance, work priorities, and future strategic tasks of bolstering soft power and international influence, serving as the fundamental follows-up for our nation's progress toward becoming a cultural power. New thoughts lead a new journey. Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, we must comprehensively enhance our soft power and international influence, showcase the Chinese spirit, Chinese values, and Chinese strength, and forge new brilliance for Chinese culture. We must allow Chinese culture to better reach the world and help the world better understand China.
Enhancing national cultural soft power and the influence of Chinese culture must draw wisdom from fine traditional culture. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must strive to draw nourishment and wisdom from the fine traditional culture formed and accumulated by the Chinese nation over generations, continue our cultural genes, extract ideological essence, and showcase spiritual charm." Fine traditional Chinese culture is the crystallization of the wisdom and essence of Chinese civilization; it is the root and soul of the Chinese nation, the foundation for China to maintain its footing amidst the turbulence of global cultures, and the deepest source and most important path for improving our national cultural soft power. We must deeply mine the spiritual identifiers and cultural essence of fine traditional Chinese culture. Throughout the long river of history, the Chinese nation has formed a fine traditional culture, including concepts such as "venerating benevolence" (崇仁爱), "keeping faith" (守诚信), and "seeking Great Unity" (求大同) [3], as well as traditional virtues like "unremitting self-improvement," "dedication and sociability," and "upholding justice and promoting goodness." These are the cultural genes for the Chinese nation’s continuous survival and prosperity, as well as the spiritual force for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The ideological concepts, humanistic spirit, and moral norms contained therein are not only the core of the Chinese people's thought and spirit but also possess significant value for solving human problems. We must extract and display the spiritual identifiers of fine traditional Chinese culture, as well as its cultural essence that possesses contemporary value and global significance, maintaining a high degree of identification with our own culture and strengthening cultural confidence. We must deeply cultivate the source of Chinese cultural innovation to forge the "soul of cultural charm." We must stimulate the cultural innovation and creative vitality of the entire nation and produce innovative cultural results that reflect the spirit of the times and lead contemporary trends. We must uphold the fundamentals and break new ground, continuously using the treasures of fine traditional Chinese culture to stimulate national creative vitality, mining its contemporary and universal human values, and continuously promoting its creative transformation and innovative development [4], so that Chinese culture manifests permanent charm and contemporary style.
Enhancing national cultural soft power and the influence of Chinese culture must promote the reconstruction of the international communication landscape. Communication capacity determines influence, and the power of discourse determines the power of initiative. We must reconstruct the narrative discourse of China’s international communication. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must accelerate the construction of a Chinese discourse and Chinese narrative system, using Chinese theory to explain Chinese practice and using Chinese practice to sublimate Chinese theory." International discourse power has become the focus of competition between major powers. Media communication discourse in the digital age requires a reshaping of discourse power through the diversification of communication channels, the characterization of communication targets, and the variety of communication content. We must adhere to the standpoint of Chinese culture, root ourselves in the great practice of the Chinese people, and adopt a global vision. We should fully utilize new technologies such as 5G, AI, and VR/AR to establish an international communication media cluster covering traditional, new, and social media. Using a multi-media communication matrix mainly composed of websites, apps, and social media accounts, we should revolve around our nation’s overall diplomatic layout and the high-quality development of the "Belt and Road Initiative." By adopting precision communication methods tailored to different regions, countries, and audiences, we can promote the global, regional, and segmented expression of Chinese stories and voices, enhancing the affinity and effectiveness of international communication and guiding the international community to form a correct "view of China."
Enhancing national cultural soft power and the influence of Chinese culture must publicize Chinese propositions and showcase China's image. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to "widely publicize Chinese propositions, Chinese wisdom, and Chinese solutions." The report to the 20th CPC National Congress requires us to "tell China’s story well, spread China’s voice well, and present a credible, lovable, and respectable image of China." As China increasingly moves toward the center of the world stage, it has the ability and responsibility to play a greater role in global affairs and work with all nations to contribute more to solving human problems. General Secretary Xi Jinping has expounded on Chinese propositions on various international occasions, fully demonstrating China’s image as a major civilizational power, an Eastern power, a responsible power, and a socialist power.
Enhancing national cultural soft power and the influence of Chinese culture must promote exchange and mutual learning among human civilizations. Civilizations become colorful through exchange and rich through mutual learning. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "If we are to forge new brilliance for Chinese culture, we must engage in cultural exchanges with other countries with a broader mind and more actively learn from and borrow all the fine civilizational achievements of the world." The beauty of a "well-seasoned soup" [5] lies in the integration of different ingredients. The charm of human civilization lies in its diversity; the true meaning of human progress lies in mutual learning. In recent years, China has learned from the excellent cultural achievements of other countries by introducing and translating a large number of foreign classics, hosting international academic conferences such as the World Conference of Classics, and organizing international film festivals, embracing other world civilizations with an inclusive heart. In the process of creating cultural achievements, we must solidify the foundations of Chinese culture, base ourselves on the practice of contemporary Chinese social development, and—within the exchange and mutual learning with world civilizations—avoid forgetting our origins while absorbing external influences and facing the future. We must create more excellent new cultural achievements that conform to contemporary Chinese reality and the trend of world progress, embody the characteristics of modern Chinese civilization, fuse the ancient and the modern, and integrate Chinese and Western elements, injecting contemporary value and ideological vitality into Chinese-path modernization. In the great process of continuing our historical lineage and composing contemporary chapters, we shall create a new culture belonging to our era, making new and greater contributions to promoting the process of human modernization and building a community with a shared future for humanity.
(The author is a researcher at the Guangdong Center for the Study of Xi Jinping Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies base) Source: Guangming Daily (via China Social Sciences Net) February 6, 2025 Web Editor: Huihui