Shi Anbin, deputy dean of the School of Journalism and Communication at Tsinghua University, and Zheng Yannong, deputy director of China International Public Relations Association, talk with the Guangzhou Daily about how China should enact a public relations (PR) strategy to enhance its image in the world.

Promote China's image through iconic brands

Guangzhou Daily (GD): What kind of national PR strategy is most effective? Which countries are good at building national image?

Zheng Yannong (Zheng): Successful PR will make the receivers accept a value system happily and willingly. It's a good choice to use renowned brands to communicate.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone once said: "In international relations, Sony is my left face and Panasonic is my right face." It clearly shows how important famous brands are to a country's image. If China has more internationally known brands, we will be more powerful.

Another good example is South Korea. It exports TV dramas and movies, and its entertainers advertise Korean tourism. The effect is huge. The Korean government has a Presidential Council on National Branding in order to promote its national image more effectively and systematically.

Shi Anbin (Shi): To build a good national image, a country should focus on its people, who can represent the country's image most vividly. Celebrities and ordinary people are of equal importance.

The US State Department invited former figure skating world champion Michelle Kwan to be its public diplomatic ambassador in 2006. India stresses that its huge labor force speaks fluent English and has sufficient computer and software skills. Additionally, a lot of countries possess unique national traits, such as romantic and creative characters in France, and the spirit of individual success in the U.S.

Strengthen China's sense of identity and correct stereotypes

Shi: China's image building and promotion have been a national project since 2008 Olympic Games. The biggest breakthrough has been transforming "international propaganda" into "professional communication."

We founded the largest and most complete international propaganda system with government sources and power since 1949. However, in the age of the internet, the effect of one-dimensional propaganda is fading and has been replaced by more interactive communication.

Zheng: China began to establish news-release mechanisms after SARS broke out in 2003. The government attempted to make information more transparent to the public by adopting a modern PR strategy. It's a vital aspect of a social democracy.

China has accumulated a lot of experience by hosting large-scale international activities such as the Olympic Games, the World Expo and the Asian Games. 　 GD: What kind of image should China convey to the world? What are your suggestions?

Zheng: China's PR should be done by every citizen. The government can activate all positive elements in society to build a communication project that involves the government and the people.

The most important thing now is to strengthen people's sense of national identity. The Chinese government's efforts to focus more on its people and effective measures to curb the financial tsunami raised the confidence of its people.

Shi: China's national image is still scattered. The government should make it more systematic. China should build a new image by correcting stereotypes. China can learn from the UK, which once launched promotional campaigns such as "Cool Britannia" and "Creative Britain" to correct stereotypes.

Cultivate soft power to promote national image

GD: Soft power is based on "hard power," such as economic, military and political power. How can China's soft power achieve a breakthrough?

Zheng: Soft power and hard power supplement each other. We must foster soft power well enough to match our hard power. We should develop multi-channel diplomatic methods, including culture, trade and sports to explain our values to different audiences.

Building national image is one of the important ways to cultivate soft power. China needs to actively tell the world about its development and contributions. Some negative influences are caused by the scarcity of soft power; thus we must pay attention to our national image.

Shi: Soft power and hard power guarantee national image building and promotion. A lot of countries have long-term communication plans and institutions.

In the 30 years since China opened up, our soft power didn't grow as fast as our economy. The image, brand and reputation of China are still questionable.

Applying a national PR strategy will be a great opportunity for China to revive after the financial crisis.

(The article is translated by Ren Zhongxi)