Marty James is an American singer-songwriter and record producer who co-wrote the English-language remix of Luis Fonsi's "Despacito", which featured Justin Bieber and Daddy Yankee. The song went on to top charts in both English and Spanish-speaking parts of the world, won a Latin Grammy, and was nominated for three Grammys.

James, born in Woodland, California, has also released albums and singles as the front man and producer of music groups Scapegoat Wax and One Block Radius.

During this year's 7th China International Music Industry Conference, Marty James told CGTN about collaborating with Justin Bieber, as well as how Chinese artists can score hits across the world.

Is this your first time visiting China? If so, what are your first impressions?

My first time, first time in China, first time in Beijing - I love it. I travel a lot for work, this is definitely one of my favorite trips. The city is beautiful, bustling, bright, fun. I love all the sculptures around the city and the malls. The people are really nice and we have made a lot of friends here. I really like it a lot.

Last year "Despacito" was popular not only in the U.S., but also in China. Why did you choose this song to remix? Did you intend to expand its appeal?

The song was a big hit in Spanish, but any time you have a chance to have an artist as, you know, just incredible as Justin Bieber, you know that that's gonna have a global appeal, because there's nobody like him. So we know that new people were going to hear it. Could we say that we knew it is going to be as big? No, you never know if a song is going to do that, it's just got a life of its own. The whole song was just a blessing.

"Despacito" is a Spanish-language song - do you think that a Chinese-language song could copy its success?

Music is becoming so much more global now. A hit can, you know, take a life of its own. You can have an artist collaborating from different parts of the world, but what I especially love about the Chinese culture is that the instruments are very unique. I definitely feel like there is room for some of these instruments to be heard all around the world. I feel like if it captured in the right way, there is no reason why you couldn't have a massive hit from a Chinese artist all around the world.

Justin Bieber is so popular in China as well as around the world. What do you think of his version of "Despacito"? What's your impression of him?

I mean, he is just a great artist. I mean, he can do everything, he has had a hit in pop, Latin, dance country. I mean, if you just look at his resume, he is a true pop star. He is one of the biggest artists of our generation. He has just reinvented himself (with) different styles. Him getting on "Despacito" was just amazing. The day that I found out that he was on the song and on the remix, it was just like, 'Aaah!' You know (with) an artist like him it's going to get a lot of attention. And if it's a great song, it's going to make a lot of noise. We're just very fortunate to have worked with him at that aspect.

Last year you were nominated for three Grammys. You've also won numerous other awards. How do you think these music awards affect the music industry?

It opens doors for you. Those different ceremonies, you can make a lot of connections, it's something nice for your resume. At the end of the day you don't really make songs to win awards but they are nice. I think it definitely feels good to get the recognition, because as a songwriter, you have to write a lot of songs that don't go anywhere before you get one that does. So you deal with a lot of rejection, so when you get a song that's widely loved, it feels really good to know like, "OK, it can be done."

Given that you're here in China, have you considered collaborating with Chinese artists?

Yeah, I have some things in the works. I've been in the studio while I've been here, and I'm looking forward to keep coming back. This is my first time, so I'm getting acclimated, figuring out the city, figuring out, you know, the artists who would be smart to be work with. Definitely with my partner Justin, we are making some moves.

In your opinion, what can Chinese music do to become more popular internationally?

Collaborating with different cultures, bringing out artists from America, bringing out artists from Latin America and just really, having the Chinese artists go to America. I mean, music is so global now with the way things are found, online streaming, songs are discovered. I think that just reaching out to those songwriters in America, reaching out to those songwriters that doing well in other parts of Europe. You know obviously, there's all kinds of different countries there that have thriving music scenes, I feel like in 20, 30, 40, 50 years - the collaborative process is just growing.

What kind of impact do you think the China International Music Industry Conference this year will have?

I think this is a great conference, it's well organized, people are excited. I'm really hoping that we're making a lot of connections here. I like these conferences because they're a place where people can go and get ideas, trade ideas, connect, meet each other, network. I feel like this is the seventh one, so it's just probably going to keep growing, maybe next year we'll be talking at this again - and we'll have some hits with some Chinese artists that we could be talking about. For me, I feel like it's just kind of giving me a little more insight to what's going on in China and how much China want to grow its music scene.