Beyond speed and scale: How China’s soft power shapes its global image

Editor's note: Shao Xia is a special commentator on international affairs for CGTN. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

High-speed rail, 5G networks and mobile payments are the visible face of China's modernization. Visitors can see and use them, and feel their impact almost immediately. But China's soft power also works in quieter ways, reshaping how the world sees China.

Chinese aesthetics: Beauty rediscovered

White Rabbit candy, a household name in China and a childhood memory for generations of Chinese, has recently drawn fresh attention overseas, this time for its wrappers. Their simple palette of red, white and blue, and the symmetrical paper-cut-style patterns carry a distinctly Chinese sense of balance and warmth. On X, one viral post described the wrapper as an "absolute masterstroke of graphic design," drawing millions of views.

In fact, Chinese aesthetics have global appeal that crosses time and borders. Along the ancient Maritime Silk Road, Chinese porcelain and silk traveled across oceans to reach Europe, inspiring what later became known as Chinoiserie. In 1867, British designer Owen Jones published Examples of Chinese Ornament, a systematic collection of Chinese decorative motifs.

The persimmon-calyx motif – a four-petal pattern that has recently come back into vogue – is one such example. Inspired by the calyx of a persimmon, this motif symbolizes stability, abundance and good fortune and has long appeared in Chinese architecture, textiles and decorative arts.

Traditional beauty may have been pushed to the margins in times of hardship, but it has never vanished. It lives on in the hands of craftspeople, who have preserved old patterns, stitches and techniques. Today, it is returning with confidence, with examples including Chinese students wearing hanfu abroad, in tourists posing for photos in hanfu before the red walls of the Forbidden City, and in Cao County, Shandong Province, which exports hanfu to more than 30 countries.

Chinese tenacity: The modern spirit of Yu Gong

If Chinese aesthetics speaks to cultural confidence, Chinese tenacity reveals something deeper: the ability to keep going against all odds, generation after generation, even when the task seems impossible.

The ancient fable of Yu Gong who was determined to dig away the mountains that cut his village off from the outside world, teaches us that "where there is a will, there is a way." That spirit is still alive in China today.

The Mu Us Desert in northern China was once a byword for barren sand. For decades, Yin Yuzhen, a woman in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, has led efforts to plant trees and combat desertification, one sapling at a time. Moved by Yin's story, American teacher Ronald Sakolsky donated $5,000 to support her tree-planting efforts more than two decades ago. Today, those saplings have grown into a lush forest.

The same tenacity is visible in technology. Huawei faced severe external pressure, including chip restrictions and ecosystem barriers. Many predicted that the company would struggle to survive. Yet its engineers kept working on core technologies. Kirin chips returned, and HarmonyOS expanded. Far from going bust, Huawei has boomed. In renewable energy, too, China has advanced step by step by developing photovoltaics, wind power, ultra-high-voltage transmission and new-energy vehicles, moving from catching up to leading the global green transition.

Chinese innovation: Technology with a shared purpose

Artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and innovative drugs are emerging as new outstanding products of Chinese manufacturing and research. But the more important question is not only what China can invent, but what that innovation is for.

China's approach to innovation is not built on monopoly or winner-takes-all competition. It puts growing emphasis on openness, shared benefit and technology for the public good.

China has become a leading source of AI-related patents, especially in generative AI. Chinese open-source large models have been widely used by developers around the world. China's AI-powered weather early-warning system, MAZU, has helped strengthen disaster prevention and early-warning capacity in multiple countries.

Robotics and drones reflect the same people-centered logic: Care robots assist the elderly, while inspection robots operate in dangerous sites. During severe flooding in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Chinese drones helped restore communication links, deliver emergency supplies and search for trapped residents. In biomedicine, Chinese-developed innovative drugs are giving more patients affordable treatment options.

In each case, the point is not simply technological prowess, but the purpose it serves.

Chinese kindness: Warmth in everyday life

What draws many travelers to China is not only its natural beauty and cuisine, but also the warmth of ordinary people.

French director Alex Cisse arrived in China with caution but left deeply moved by the warmth and sincerity he encountered. A 74-year-old British grandmother named Gill toured China alone without navigation or translation tools, and Chinese netizens helped her generously as she traveled across provinces.

This kindness also takes a national form. China contributes more peacekeepers than any other permanent member of the UN Security Council, sends medical teams to treat patients overseas, shares agricultural techniques with other countries to support their poverty reduction efforts, and, when disasters strike, provides humanitarian supplies to countries in need.

Chinese aesthetics, tenacity, innovation and kindness, all part and parcel of China's soft power, are visible in virtually every aspect of China's development. The world is not only discovering what China can build but also beginning to understand the spirit behind it all: the intrinsic strength that drives China's speed and scale.

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