2025: A Year Where China’s New Global Image Emerged Through Cultural Appeal and Strength
# Sanket Kirati
At the beginning of 2025, amid fears of a potential TikTok ban in the US, many American users migrated to the Chinese social media platform ‘Xiaohongshu.’ There, they encountered glimpses of ordinary Chinese life: grocery hauls, medical bills, and real-time memes. This marked the beginning of a subtle transformation.
That same year, Chinese cultural products captured global markets. The mythical character Nezha lit up cinema screens worldwide, queues formed in Los Angeles for Chinese Labubu plush toys, and Chinese web novels, online games, and series successfully garnered international fandoms.
A video by British YouTuber Mike Okey from 2024, documenting his 2,000-kilometer hitchhiking journey from northwest China to Beijing, has now amassed over 13 million views and 30,000 comments. One comment reads: “I now see China not through the lens of media and politics, but as a country of genuine, kind, and happy people.”
This shift is particularly evident among younger generations. A July 2025 study by the Pew Research Center showed that perceptions of China had become more positive in 15 out of 25 surveyed countries compared to 2024. In many countries, young people hold more favorable views of China than older generations.
The Brand Finance Global Soft Power Index 2025 ranked China second, only behind the United States. This high recognition reflects the country’s growing role in economic, cultural, and sustainable development.
China’s national symbols were once static and predetermined. But now, that situation has changed. Wang Yiwei, a professor of international relations at Renmin University, says, “Let’s call it a new kind of soft power, or Soft Power 2.0.”
This new global resonance for China is partly a result of domestic cultural re-evaluation. A renewed enthusiasm for tradition and heritage, combined with the confidence of Generation Z, has transformed cultural expression from imitation to ownership.
Films like ‘Ne Zha 2’ exemplify this change. One of the world’s highest-grossing animated films, it involved over 4,000 animation artists from more than 140 domestic studios. Director Yang Yu said, “We wanted even the sea itself to carry emotion.”
China’s post-pandemic relaxation of visa rules served as a catalyst. Unilateral visa exemptions for nearly 50 countries and expanded visa-free transit schemes spurred a leap in inbound tourism.
In 2025, a steady stream of influencers and celebrities visited China. Figures like American YouTuber IShowSpeed (Darren Watkins Jr.), political commentator Hasan Piker, and football legend Zinedine Zidane captured scenes of high-speed rail, cashless payments, regional cuisines, and daily urban order.
Li Haidong from China Foreign Affairs University states, “These people-to-people exchanges have shattered long-standing information silos, especially among younger Western audiences.”
China’s advanced technological presence is shaping perceptions of its long-term competitiveness. Chinese open-source AI models, including DeepSeek, now handle nearly 30 percent of global AI usage. According to a recent article in The Economist, China is now the world’s second-largest developer of new drugs.
Even against a tense geopolitical backdrop, China’s commitment and ability to stand firm against pressure have influenced international perceptions. An April 2025 Pew Research Center survey, conducted at a peak of tensions, recorded the first modest warming of US attitudes towards China since 2017.
A December survey by Spain’s IE University showed that support for closer ties with China has risen sharply, up 15 percentage points since 2023.
These developments may not amount to a complete realignment of global opinion, but they signal a more incremental and potentially durable shift: China’s growing ability to shape perceptions through appeal and attraction, driven by cultural visibility, competence, and the quiet accumulation of credibility.
