Chinese Soft Power and Media Discussion and Updates

Mihoyo's games have taken the world by storm, serving as a prime example. I doubt anyone would mistake Mihoyo for a Japanese or Korean company. Black Myth: Wukong is another excellent case in point, even though the game's primary audience remains predominantly Chinese.

I wonder if soft power and cultural works are similar to high-end manufacturing—like electric vehicles—requiring decades of foundational groundwork before exploding at just the right moment.

I believe that the quality of every production stage in artistic works plays a crucial role, and elevating the caliber of production teams requires market immersion, refinement, and competition. I still recall that roughly a decade ago, when mobile gaming in China was just taking its first steps, small-scale game studios could secure investment with just a handful of novice employees and rapidly churn out a simple game. Today, however, top game companies exclusively recruit either the brightest young talents from elite universities or seasoned veterans with multiple highly successful projects under their belts (a phenomenon we also call "内卷"). On the other hand, the Chinese gaming community scrutinizes every game with a magnifying glass, meticulously comparing gameplay, design, optimization, storylines, and music—creating a sense of vibrant vitality and fierce competition.

Mihoyo's success is clearly attributable to its top-tier creative teams—world-class IP design, top-tier screenwriters, premier 2D and 3D artists, outstanding music and sound design, cutting-edge market research, and innovative gameplay design. These creative teams form the core of its competitive edge. Otherwise, why have other game companies worldwide failed to replicate Mihoyo's games after all these years?

Nevermore said:

Mihoyo's games have taken the world by storm, serving as a prime example. I doubt anyone would mistake Mihoyo for a Japanese or Korean company. Black Myth: Wukong is another excellent case in point, even though the game's primary audience remains predominantly Chinese.

I wonder if soft power and cultural works are similar to high-end manufacturing—like electric vehicles—requiring decades of foundational groundwork before exploding at just the right moment.

I believe that the quality of every production stage in artistic works plays a crucial role, and elevating the caliber of production teams requires market immersion, refinement, and competition. I still recall that roughly a decade ago, when mobile gaming in China was just taking its first steps, small-scale game studios could secure investment with just a handful of novice employees and rapidly churn out a simple game. Today, however, top game companies exclusively recruit either the brightest young talents from elite universities or seasoned veterans with multiple highly successful projects under their belts (a phenomenon we also call "内卷"). On the other hand, the Chinese gaming community scrutinizes every game with a magnifying glass, meticulously comparing gameplay, design, optimization, storylines, and music—creating a sense of vibrant vitality and fierce competition.

Mihoyo's success is clearly attributable to its top-tier creative teams—world-class IP design, top-tier screenwriters, premier 2D and 3D artists, outstanding music and sound design, cutting-edge market research, and innovative gameplay design. These creative teams form the core of its competitive edge. Otherwise, why have other game companies worldwide failed to replicate Mihoyo's games after all these years?

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I guess it's just marketing tactics and business tactics.

Genshin Impact released during the Covid era, garnering millions of players. That is what transformed Mihoyo from this random game dev company from China into this global icon we know today.

It's just something done at the right place at the right time, it really makes all difference in the world....

The new wave of successful Chinese gaming companies like Mihoyo, Hypergryph, Game Science are primarily run by Chinese millennials and employs Gen Z equivalents, and serve a similar profile of consumers.

By contrast Chinese TV and movie studios are mostly run by Boomers and Generation X equivalents. Like wise with most of their consumers.

There’s a difference in how these populations run their companies and what they like. Young people tend to be trendy, risk taking, and energetic. By contrast, older people tend to be conservative, risk averse, and traditional.

In entertainment, as in everything else, demographics matter.

Korean entertainment rose amidst a glut of youth talent and consumers flooding the industry in the early 2000s. If you look at the Korean demographics pyramid this will be very obvious. The Chinese gaming industry is riding with those same forces.

But it’s not the same for the dinosaur companies in the Chinese TV and movie industries. There’s a reason Chinese short form videos like Tik Tok and mini dramas are much more popular globally than the traditional content.

sabiothailand said:

I guess it's just marketing tactics and business tactics.

Genshin Impact released during the Covid era, garnering millions of players. That is what transformed Mihoyo from this random game dev company from China into this global icon we know today.

It's just something done at the right place at the right time, it really makes all difference in the world....

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Online games are not one-time deals, especially for long-running titles like these. Other game developers have ample time to create new games and compete with the dominant players in the current niche market, much like the rivalry between DOTA1, LOL, and DOTA2. Yet, years later, no game comparable to Genshin Impact has emerged from Japanese, Korean, American, or European game companies. Only in the Chinese market have competitive titles like "Mingchao" and "HuanTa" appeared (though their market share within the niche remains small).

You mentioned that Genshin Impact's success was primarily driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the pandemic certainly contributed to its explosive popularity, it wasn't the sole factor. This theory fails to account for Mihoyo's subsequent release of outstanding games like StarRail and Zero Zone. From a game development perspective, these follow-up titles remain highly competitive.

Eventine said:

The new wave of successful Chinese gaming companies like Mihoyo, Hypergryph, Game Science are primarily run by Chinese millennials and employs Gen Z equivalents, and serve a similar profile of consumers.

By contrast Chinese TV and movie studios are mostly run by Boomers and Generation X equivalents. Like wise with most of their consumers.

There’s a difference in how these populations run their companies and what they like. Young people tend to be trendy, risk taking, and energetic. By contrast, older people tend to be conservative, risk averse, and traditional.

In entertainment, as in everything else, demographics matter.

Korean entertainment rose amidst a glut of youth talent and consumers flooding the industry in the early 2000s. If you look at the Korean demographics pyramid this will be very obvious. The Chinese gaming industry is riding with those same forces.

But it’s not the same for the dinosaur companies in the Chinese TV and movie industries. There’s a reason Chinese short form videos like Tik Tok and mini dramas are much more popular globally than the traditional content.

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Interestingly, a significant portion of China's short-form drama audience consists of middle-aged and elderly viewers. Meanwhile, Japan—a nation grappling with severe aging—still maintains highly competitive animation and manga industries, alongside thriving console gaming sectors. While I acknowledge that demographic structure and population size profoundly influence industries, reality isn't determined by a few metrics alone. Each sector operates with its own intricate details and critical factors.

Nevermore said:

Interestingly, a significant portion of China's short-form drama audience consists of middle-aged and elderly viewers. Meanwhile, Japan—a nation grappling with severe aging—still maintains highly competitive animation and manga industries, alongside thriving console gaming sectors. While I acknowledge that demographic structure and population size profoundly influence industries, reality isn't determined by a few metrics alone. Each sector operates with its own intricate details and critical factors.

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Breaking into an industry is the hardest step. Once you have a self sustaining market & talent system, it is much easier to maintain it.

Japanese anime & manga had the exact same demographic characteristics during its rise. Japan had a youth glut in the 80s and 90s. It was around this time that anime’s global hegemony was established with many of the most iconic franchises being born.

Today, Japanese anime and manga is actually on its way down - for example the two most highly rated series in 2025 are Chinese anime (To Be Hero X and Lord of Mysteries), while Solo Leveling (an adaptation of a Korean comic) dominated the view charts in 2024.

I should mention that the youth glut is referring to the simultaneous emergence of youth and wealth in a generation. Poor youths who can barely survive aren’t going to fuel anything. It’s the rising purchasing power of a young, middle class that creates entertainment trends.

Wherever such profiles emerge, new entertainment trends are imminent.

Eventine said:

Breaking into an industry is the hardest step. Once you have a self sustaining market & talent system, it is much easier to maintain it.

Japanese anime & manga had the exact same demographic characteristics during its rise. Japan had a youth glut in the 80s and 90s. It was around this time that anime’s global hegemony was established with many of the most iconic franchises being born.

Today, Japanese anime and manga is actually on its way down - for example the two most highly rated series in 2025 are Chinese anime (To Be Hero X and Lord of Mysteries), while Solo Leveling (an adaptation of a Korean comic) dominated the view charts in 2024.

I should mention that the youth glut is referring to the simultaneous emergence of youth and wealth in a generation. Poor youths who can barely survive aren’t going to fuel anything. It’s the rising purchasing power of a young, middle class that creates entertainment trends.

Wherever such profiles emerge, new entertainment trends are imminent.

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The most infamous example is the baby boom in the US causing a youth glut in the 1970s-1980s fueling the rise of rock, coca cola, jeans, etc while the Soviets had a baby deficit from losing 20 million in WW2.

GiantPanda said:

South Korea does not have the global hegemon pissing on their culture at every turn.

So it will take a bit longer:

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Nahhh, thats not an excuse . Im sorry. Its behaviours like this i dont like in some people. The best way you can move forward is by first recognising the strength and sucess of your opponents and learning from some.of their sucess and reason behind it. If you want to bury your head in the sand and look for excuses to explain your oppenents sucess in a sector then you will gind it hard to match them and overtake them. Its like you are trying to downplay south Korea's prowess and capabilities. At least im glad the CCP dont have the ssme mentality as you, since Chinese officials are very open to study and learn alot from others sucess, else the country wouldnt have gotten to where they are today. Thats one quality i have notice from china at least.

Using your logic, Why is it that other countries in the world who the US doesnt care about yet they are not as sucessful as south Korea? What reason would you give for that. So you cant simplly use such an excuse.
South Korea has done very well in almost every major sector one can think of , in fact they have overeachievd rleative to their countrys small land size, barely any natural resources, and a fairly average or even small population. Their achievement is such that many countries who have a far bigger land, vast natural resources , huge population still dont even match up to south Korea in amny sectors. So to overlook this and use silly excuse as the US not stopping them is just being unfair.

Michael90 said:

South Korea has been a very successful country to be honest, despite some of their shortfalls and mistakes. They punch far above their weight in almost every sector compared to their size(basically a large Chinese city/province ). I will say China still punches way below her weight given her size, resources and population. I am not sure why Chinese musics/movies/entertainment industry hasn’t been as successful as South Korea. At least for North Korea I can understand since the people basically live a giant prison, but China has been open for decades now, I would have expected their movies/music industry etc to be much more successful outside China than it is today. The only Chinese place that did have a global success around the world was Hong Kong during the 70s to 90s with her Kung fu movies but not sure I can attribute that to China since they were not even part of China back then but under Britain.
it will be interesting to see if China can achieve the level of success Hong Kong and South Korea achieved in the future in this sector. Maybe there is still something lacking somewhere . I would have expected Chinese culture, movies / music /entertainment industry to be the one dominating and setting the lead in east Asia and SEA at least to be honest. Giving the country’s size, rich history/culture etc

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Based on my observations, this is related to several reasons.

Censorship: Censorship chops down all good ideas and forces creators to twist them to the point where nothing remains of the source material's original concept. BL novels and anime are prime examples. Likewise, the groups that were criticized a few years ago for their femininity—that's lost cultural potential. Look at BTS; their group attracted 800,000 tourists to South Korea and brought $3 billion into its economy.

Self-Absorption: It's difficult for Western viewers to immerse themselves in Chinese culture, especially with the market flooded by cheap 3D wuxia. You might say Japan also makes isekai, and yes, they do, but they set them in European-like environments and systems understandable to Europeans. Not to mention, among popular, high-quality works in the wuxia genre, you can only really name "Soul land"; everything else has a modern setting not tied to traditional culture (Link Click, LOTM, Scissor Seven). Furthermore, the studios themselves do little to participate in exporting their works—and I'm saying this as a user from the post-Soviet space. Here, only TGCF (Heaven Official's Blessing), Blades of the Guardian, The King's Avatar (Quanzhi Gaoshou), and Battle Through the Heavens are officially dubbed. Everything else is done by private, non-professional studios, which is why the market for Chinese anime remains a niche interest, even with its variety. And then there's the quality of most works—3D wuxia made on the Unreal 4/5 engine.

Non-Existent Geek Culture and Its Appeal: You might have a 10,000-year history, but if you're not interesting to the youth, you've lost. Japan, Korea, and the USA currently have the strongest geek cultures in the world. The entire rest of the world combined exports less culture than these three. And first and foremost, they have everything needed to develop it domestically: themed stores? Check! Top-tier geek-themed streets? Check! Streets covered in geek culture attributes? Check! They saturated their own market first and then exported to the world. In China, it's currently hard to imagine anything similar.

Michael90 said:

South Korea has been a very successful country to be honest, despite some of their shortfalls and mistakes. They punch far above their weight in almost every sector compared to their size(basically a large Chinese city/province ). I will say China still punches way below her weight given her size, resources and population. I am not sure why Chinese musics/movies/entertainment industry hasn’t been as successful as South Korea. At least for North Korea I can understand since the people basically live a giant prison, but China has been open for decades now, I would have expected their movies/music industry etc to be much more successful outside China than it is today. The only Chinese place that did have a global success around the world was Hong Kong during the 70s to 90s with her Kung fu movies but not sure I can attribute that to China since they were not even part of China back then but under Britain.
it will be interesting to see if China can achieve the level of success Hong Kong and South Korea achieved in the future in this sector. Maybe there is still something lacking somewhere . I would have expected Chinese culture, movies / music /entertainment industry to be the one dominating and setting the lead in east Asia and SEA at least to be honest. Giving the country’s size, rich history/culture etc

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I know that DaiWW dude is a hardline nationalist, but I dont think he's wrong and the more I think about it, despite Korea's massive cultural promotion it doesn't have as much "soft power" as people think it does. Don't believe me? Think I'm just coping and making excuses for China's pitiful cultural promotion attempts? Well, answer me this. Why does South Korea despite its massive cultural exports, still get less inbound tourism annually than even Malaysia and Vietnam, nevermind China?

Promoting your country is more than just media exports, it consists of an all around comprehensive campaign to burgeon your country's image globally. Take Japan, beyond the export of anime and video games, Japan with no small help from America and using all aspects of cultural promotion has been able to present an image of its country and society as being a modern one of harmony and humility. Ask anybody what words they would use to describe Japan and immediately people will say, humble, polite, friendly, orderly, and peaceful. Contrast this with South Korea, where most people would still use terms like, hypercompetitive, materialistic, superficial, and xenophobic. Ask most Southeast Asian youths today what country is a model for their country's development and most would answer Japan without a second's hestitation. On the flipside ask them if South Korea is a country to aspire to and you'll get mixed responses. In that recent ASPI poll asking Southeast Asians their most favored vacation destination, believe it or not most answered they would rather go to China than South Korea.

Contrast this with China, where yes there's still the Sinophobic propaganda from America, Chinese tourists have improved but there are still some bad apples, its still a middle income country rather than a fully modernized one, and even with Trump's insantiy for many the restrictions on civil liberties in China still rub people the wrong way. But barring the fact that on the world's official soft power barometer, China surpassed the UK to be the number two soft power nation in the world, there are other things to consider. For one, China's media exports at this point easily exceed the EU and India's, even if it still lags behind the US, SK, and Japan's. Two, China has been politically maneuvering and employing Western social media to display the progress its society has made. Just one year into the visa free program, China will end 2025 as Asia's third most visited country and will probably surpass Thailand soon, although it will still lag behind Japan. Three, China is the undisputed leader of the global south at this point, promoting multilateral cooperation while the US becomes an White supremacist state and the EU is at a loss of what to do.

Online fan groups do not make policy and do not reflect reality, since they all live in their echo chambers. Perhaps China still has some catching up to do for Japan and especially the US, but I would say even if it doesn't hold a candle yet to South Korea's media exports its soft power projection is roughly around the same. China for sure still has lots of room for improvement, but for now I can confidently say it has the messaging power to back up its financial and hard power.