MARUF BUZCUGİL – MEHMET KAYA
In the last two party congresses, China has decided to open up not only in terms of production and economy but also in terms of cooperation. Like every big country, it has been practicing wide-ranging public diplomacy for a long time. Within the framework of a new media-oriented seminar we attended in an essential but not well-known region of China, we looked for traces of this new approach of this country. China confidently conveys to the other countries that “we are an alternative to the West”. If China is looking for economic access, a separate strategy for each region and a focus on youth and children may open a door.
China’s position in the world economy, politics and culture has long since changed. Since the second half of the 90s, China has become part of the global economy with cheap, large volume and good production in the world value chain. During this period, global companies outsourced their high-tech products to China. All kinds of industrial products produced in other countries have more or less Chinese components in one way or another. Today, the picture is different. China is entering the global market with its own brands and technologies. They are producing in other countries. Of course, they face obstacles with and without rules. It is also a fact that China strongly defends its domestic market!
So what is new? It seems that China is trying to send a message to the world that “there is not just one alternative” in the broadest sense. A little more open, a little freer, but still a controlled openness-integration. In fact, given its 1.4 billion population and large geography, a controlled approach seems reasonable. China tends to share what it knows in its own way through public diplomacy in every country it has access to. We had the opportunity to make regional observations at a seminar we attended in Jinhua, China, organized by Zhejiang Normal University (ZJNU) under the coordination of the Ministry of Commerce.
China is a huge country, and each region has social-economic and, in a broad sense, cultural differences. Each region seeks to grow with its own dynamics. The emphasis is still on the Pacific coast, but China’s TV channels broadcasting in international languages have started a communication process in which each city and region is introduced separately.
Of course, a regional observation does not reflect the whole. However, Zheijang province, together with neighboring Shanghai, is a major industrial-trade region on a global scale and a cultural region on a national scale. The provincial capital Hangzhou is the birthplace of Alibaba. Jinhua has heavy industrial investment. The movie studios and theme park Hengdian World Studios, one of the largest in the world, also called the “Hollywood of China”, are in this province. Yiwu, one of the world’s largest export goods trading centers, is also in this region. Yiwu also has a research and production center for semiconductor/chip technology and optical technologies.
Zheijang province lies in the hinterland of Shanghai, one of the largest financial-economic centers in China and the world. This economic “basin”, centered on Shanghai, accounts for 21.7 percent of China’s GDP, 11 percent of the population, 24.5 percent of public revenues, and 47.2 percent of foreign trade volume – the Shanghai and Yiwu effect, of course – although geographically small. Jinhua in Zheijang province is one of the 26 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Zone, which includes the regional governments of Jiangsu, Zheijang and Anhui, with Shanghai municipality as the upper administrative center.
Pacific coastal economic zone is chosen as a priority development area since 1978, when China launched its opening-up policy.
Public diplomacy and BRI countries: The ultimate goal?
China is inviting many people from various walks of life to different seminars and programs to increase its wide-ranging interaction with the countries. For 2024, the list of programs that journalists can participate in is dominated by Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries. The impression is that China wants to establish strong ties with BRI countries at all levels.
China says it is opening up more, but…
The seminar we attended focused on “new media” (conceptualized as “We Media” in the seminar presentations, referring to channels such as weibo, wechat, etc.), and although the participants were from BRI countries, there were also journalists from far away countries in Africa and even South America, and participants from government departments related to communication.
The flow and design of the program suggest two things. China has developed its own theory and practice for new media. Their theoretical approach is similar to Western communication sociology. There is a critical approach, but the main emphasis was on how these tools can be used. Of course, the main goal of such programs is to influence, but the seminar can be described as balanced and sincere. Even the evolution of the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda from crude to subtle messages was explained with sincerity.
China’s policy of “openness” was initiated in 1978, and the implementation of a market economy while preserving the spirit of Chinese socialism and development of Chinese characteristics have been carried further in the decisions of the last two party congresses. As a result, the message to the world that “we are ready to cooperate” is being sent strongly. “We are also an alternative” to the West, especially the US.
Digitization, urbanization, mobility…
One of the most striking elements of regional observation is the intensive penetration of digitization into daily life. Facial recognition is used almost everywhere, from university gates to airplane boarding, from museum entrances to bank transactions. Cross-checking of documents and biometric data has begun. In sociological studies, cross-checking surveillance is viewed with concern. But it certainly works. On the financial side, cell phones and other electronic payment systems are used even in grocery stores. Most of the world has these payment systems, but in our region, cash is almost nonexistent. The fact that electronic payment systems have greatly improved the efficiency of financial management suggests that China’s capacity to manage a population of 1.4 billion and the world’s second largest economic volume is well advanced.
Internet and computer-mobile phone software operating systems are produced under Chinese restrictions. Many Western internet service providers do not operate in China, which is acceptable when there are barriers to Chinese software and hardware in Western countries. On the other hand, whatever service Western online companies offer, the alternative is offered to the public locally. This is a familiar situation. If there is no Google, there is Baidu.
Settlement control has allowed cities to be well planned. This facilitates mobility. Major infrastructure works are also observed. For example, Jinhua, with a population of 7.5 million, does not have a heavy traffic problem, and the city is well maintained and clean. Located close to the mountains but on a flat delta, the city has public and personal transportation with cars and mopeds. Not everyone can afford a car, but it is possible to buy a 30 km. range moped for 2 thousand Yuan (approximately 9.2 thousand TL), the price of a cheap mobile phone, and it solves the problem of individual transportation.
Preserving the Chinese culture
As the seminar focused on new media, discussions on culture were a key element. China’s opening up to the outside world while preserving its sense of culture and socialism has been on the agenda for a long time. This debate remains essential for the future. The official narrative is to preserve China’s historical character at all levels and integrate it into the future.
Education, the family and the state’s cultural policies are the key elements of how this can be done. The state produces Chinese cultural content from TV series to museum investments and runs programs. One such example is the Museum of Chinese Literature and Poetry, located in a large cultural center where poems are presented on giant screens and animations. UNESCO has also praised this museum. Near Jinhua, an archaeological site-museum dated close to Göbeklitepe, one of the oldest examples of humanity’s transition from hunter-gatherers to sedentary life ever found, is being promoted to the world.
On the street, the scene is a little different. We came across a “break dance” competition for young children in a shopping mall, which was well attended. There is a sharp difference in the appearance of adults and young people. Western fast-food and coffee chains (which somehow managed to get in) have special promotions for children and young people. For a 120-year-old beverage-fast-food group, 10 years is a long time to wait. Just like in Turkey, today’s children will grow up and form the main audience. Western popular culture is destructive. From food habits, to music, to clothing, even the way people walk on the road, it comes in a package! At least in the area we visited, the interest of children and young people in shopping malls, cafes and fast-food chains was intense. Moreover, the products of these chains are relatively expensive. The price of a coffee is more expensive than an average but hearty restaurant meal.
Investing in the future – the youth!
China’s streets are changing, and so are its young people. Especially for a business targeting the end consumer, entering the market in a wide range of areas from food to entertainment – if it can be entered – and investing in children and young people as a target audience can be a good strategy. It seems difficult to break both behavior and consumption habits in the adult audience.
The greenest jersey of the Olympics
The seminar period coincided with the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Chinese media has been reporting intensely on the Olympics. In addition to sports, China also put its technology in the race for the Olympics. Chinese televisions covered not only the pre-Olympic athletes but also the software and hardware to be used in the broadcast of the Olympics by Chinese companies and the Cloud service to be provided. Of course, green transformation was also on the agenda. It was frequently reported that the Chinese team’s jerseys were made from recycled products. The green athletics track, also made of recycled products used in these Olympics, was also produced by a Chinese company.
Trying to restrict domestic consumption
One of the striking things in cities like Jinhua, Hangzhou, Jingdezhen and Jinhua, including Shanghai, is that contrary to popular perception, there is not an “abundance of crazy cheap goods” in the city centers. Local prices of end-consumer goods are not “extraordinarily cheap” in Yuan, TRY or USD compared to other countries.
In China as a whole, around 400 million people make up the middle class. Some of these people are globally wealthy. The target is to increase the middle class to 800 million. When we look at the prices and products offered to the domestic market, we get the impression that the consumption power of the non-wealthy masses, especially the middle class of 400 million people, is limited. Because if this segment participates in consumption with high demand, the export-oriented structure may be completely disrupted. Of course, this is an assumption, but we have the impression that the domestic market is not wanted to be offered goods that will be exported.
Selling luxury can be an opportunity
There is an environment where global and local luxury goods are offered as opposed to general goods. All of the global luxury icon brands have stores, probably by local entrepreneurs. In relatively affluent neighborhoods, luxury European car brands outnumber local brands. There are big stores of western white goods and furniture brands in the city center shops. In Jinhua, historically a tea center, gourmet tea boutiques sell tea in specially designed porcelain packaging for 4 thousand Yuan per kg (approximately 18.4 thousand TL). In sum, there is a window of opportunity to sell luxury goods to China for now.
Another factor for China’s domestic market is the need for a different strategy for each region and the ability of local managers to take the initiative to a certain extent. Not for China as a whole, but as far as China permits, there may be opportunities to enter the market region by region.
As long as it is export-oriented!
Zheijang is the center of tea, silk and Chinese porcelain. Historical porcelain production is still preserved. In Jingdezhen, a city in the neighboring province of Jiangxi, there is the most impressive museum of Chinese porcelain and ceramics in China and the world. The museum is inside a giant wholesale site. Thousands of sellers offer wholesale and retail products, both wholesale and retail, at much cheaper prices than their counterparts around the world. From production to design, from culture to wholesale and retail trade, porcelain “clustering” has been realized here. In Yiwu, the “district” of 1.5 million people, which we did not have the opportunity to visit, there is a wholesale and retail trade center. In 4 districts, 4 areas, 41 sectors, 1901 categories, 400 thousand kinds of products are sold by more than 500 thousand businesses. The abundance of goods not seen in city centers is now found in clusters and trade centers set up to be sold to the world. As long as it is export-oriented!
