Chinese firms extend Lunar New Year wishes to Trump via Times Square billboard
A hundred firms sponsor advert offering holiday greetings to America and its president
While Donald Trump is drawing waves of criticism only a week into his US presidency, a group of Chinese companies have gone against the tide and seized the opportunity of the Lunar New Year to express their goodwill to the leader, who has vowed to impose steep tariffs on Chinese imports.
A large billboard sponsored by 100 Chinese companies is up and shining in New York’s Times Square, wishing Trump and the American people a “happy Chinese new year”.
The advertising campaign was launched by a Chinese media platform named “huashangtaolue”, which focuses on the Chinese business community and has cooperations with various media outlets affiliated with the government. A similar holiday advert was carried last year.
The world-famous commercial intersection is a stone’s throw from Trump Tower on the prestigious Fifth Avenue, where Trump’s wife and youngest son remain after Trump moved to the White House following his inauguration.
Companies that sponsored this year’s greeting include state-controlled real estate giant Greenland Group, which acquired a 70 per cent stake in a US$5 billion project to develop residential property in Brooklyn. Other sponsors include Mengniu Dairy, home appliance manufacturer Galanz and air conditioner maker AUX.
Trump, a real estate mogul-turned-politician, has long sought to bring his brand to China. He also has Chinese business ties in the US, with state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China the biggest tenant of Trump Tower. But he has lashed out at China for being a currency manipulator and vowed during his election campaign to levy a flat 45 per cent tariff on all Chinese imports. Many observers, as well as some Chinese business leaders, have warned that trade friction between the US and China is inevitable. There are also concerns that a trade war between the world’s two large economies might be looming on the horizon.
In recent years, many Chinese companies have sought to increase their global presence by leasing the big electronic billboards in Times Square, one of the most popular attractions in the world, drawing nearly 40 million visitors a year.
Xinhua leased a billboard there in 2011 and various Chinese businesses have followed suit, including online shopping sites and internet companies.
Apart from businesses, state propaganda has also sought a presence. Last summer, the square saw a three-minute video asserting China’s claim to the South China Sea that played 120 times a day for 12 straight days, after an international tribunal ruled against Beijing in a case brought by the Philippines.