On February 17, the Chinese animated film “Ne Zha 2” took its place among the top 10 highest-grossing films of all time, with its global box office haul at $1.66 billion and climbing. This milestone followed the global success of the video game “Black Myth: Wukong.” Both are emblematic of China’s accelerating cultural exports and expanding soft power. 

Domestically, such successes resonate deeply within a society undergoing a state-driven cultural rejuvenation, cultivating a strong culture-centric nationalism. By strategically aligning soft power expansion with this revival of traditional culture, the Chinese government leverages symbolic achievements to enhance its domestic political legitimacy. As China continues to integrate culture into its global strategy, this interplay between external recognition and internal legitimacy will remain central to its pursuit of soft power.

Cultivating a Cultural Rejuvenation at Home

Despite the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s historical campaigns against traditional culture, Xi Jinping’s leadership has placed culture at the core of China’s great rejuvenation plan. Xi actively embraces Chinese traditional culture, reframing the preservation and development of excellent traditional culture as the party’s mission. 

This shift is evident in the CCP’s evolving ideological framework. On July 1, 2016, during the 95th anniversary celebration of the party’s founding, Xi notably added “Confidence in Culture” to the established “Three Confidences” introduced at the 18th Party Congress, thus formulating the “Four Confidences.” This marked an explicit elevation of cultural identity within the CCP’s legitimacy discourse, blurring the boundary of culture and ideology. 

More recently, Xi’s Thought on Culture was formally introduced during the National Conference on Propaganda, Ideological and Cultural Work in October 2023. While the ideological foundation remains deeply rooted in party doctrine, its practical implementation has increasingly emphasized the revival and promotion of traditional Chinese culture over communist ideological narratives. Underscoring the role........

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