From Labubu to blockbuster films, was 2025 the year China’s soft power went mainstream?

Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest stories about China’s soft power this year. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.\n1. Labubu, soft power of a stealthy ‘ugly-cute’ sort, takes on America\nThe Chinese-made dolls, a playful global megahit, give Beijing an opportunity to make inroads into deep US distrust.\n2. ‘Huge shift’: why learning Mandarin is losing its appeal in the West\nAvailable figures suggest enthusiasm for learning Mandarin abroad is waning after years of rapid growth, with analysts pointing to China’s economy and image problems.\n3. Palace intrigue conquers global screens: has China cast its new soft power?\n\nAs overseas fans binge on Chinese hit streaming shows, slick productions could boost country’s image on the global stage, experts say.\n4. How DeepSeek could give China the soft power edge it’s looking for\nSince its rapid rise, the Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek has faced considerable scrutiny from some Western countries but that is unlikely to be the case in the Global South where observers say it offers great potential.\n5. ‘It’s super impressive’: tourists flock to China as ‘cyberpunk’ cities go viral\n\nSocial media hype about China’s “futuristic” technology and urban infrastructure is attracting a growing wave of foreign tourists.\n6. How Chinese lifestyle brands are finding fans abroad with toys, tea and trends\nFrom milk tea to blind boxes, China’s lighter consumer brands are winning worldwide recognition – though time will tell if the craze will last.\n7. China targets Gen Z, millennials in new strategy to build its brand in Africa\n\nChina is betting on a new generation of digital influencers and content creators to reshape its image in Africa, which observers have said is a major shift as Beijing looks to refine its “soft power” campaigns.\n8. RedNote’s influx of ‘TikTok refugees’ could be a double-edged sword for Beijing\nThe influx of American “TikTok refugees” onto the Chinese social media app RedNote may feed into some of Beijing’s main talking points, but could also pose a challenge for China’s censors.\n9. China’s Ne Zha 2 still flying high as highest-grossing animated movie of all time\n\nGone are the days when Chinese filmmakers were left scrambling to recreate the economic success of foreign offerings such as Kung Fu Panda.\n10. Why Chinese grass-roots culture may be finally taking its place in the limelight\nFrom web literature to video games, Chinese culture is winning fans abroad, where state-sponsored soft power initiatives have fallen flat.\n11. Addictive China micro-dramas show how commercial demand fuels netcasting boom\nChina’s online video and audio industry, especially in lucrative micro-dramas, is expanding its influence both domestically and abroad, with the market size surging to 1.22 trillion yuan (US$168 billion) in 2024, according to officials and industry insiders.\n