According to Australian think tank Lowy Institute’s 2023 Asia Power Index , China lags far behind the United States in cultural influence, measured in terms of cultural exports and the regional appeal of its media outlets, among other metrics. China scored 47.4, the US 80.9. This underwhelming result comes despite the fact that Beijing has, since the Hu Jintao administration, accorded great importance to the role of culture in China’s national rejuvenation. More recently, in President Xi Jinping’s report to the 20th Communist Party Congress, the words “culture” and “cultural” appeared 69 times. In that report, Xi also specified that one of the country’s “main objectives and tasks” for the next five years is to enhance “the appeal of Chinese culture” and “further increase China’s international standing”. Last July, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and 27 other government departments jointly released a policy road map on establishing China as a global cultural power. Against this backdrop, how does China draw on its past and present to tell its story well? A look at emerging Chinese television and film genres offers some answers. According to the Global Times, official data showed a 118 per cent year-on-year increase in the export value of Chinese television series in 2021, and that China had exported 714 television dramas with a total value of US$56.83 million that year. A notable phenomenon is the rise of xianxia (translated literally as “immortal heroes”) television dramas. This genre, which draws heavily on Chinese mythology and early Chinese literature, has gained popularity both at home and abroad. Traditional Chinese culture is also exported through Chinese historical dramas. Story of Yanxi Palace , a period drama set in the Qing dynasty, was the most googled television show worldwide in 2018. This feat did not go unnoticed by both Chinese state and Western media, such as the BBC. Apart from television series that focus on traditional Chinese culture, the country has been exporting series that showcase the Chinese model of development . Take Minning Town , for example. “Minning” is a portmanteau of “Min”, another name for Fujian province, and “Ning” for the north-western Ningxia Hui autonomous region. The series, which is inspired by Beijing’s provincial-pairing project that links more affluent coastal provinces with less developed regions like Ningxia to alleviate poverty, has been dubbed into Arabic and is airing in Egypt and Sudan. It is also expected to be broadcast in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other Arab countries. A China Daily report on the show’s reception in the Arab market cited an increase in Arab media reports on the show and discussions of it by internet influencers and local viewers. China’s film industry is another important channel through which cultural influence could increase, though its overseas box-office success is debatable. The industry expanded rapidly before the pandemic. Gross box office revenue increased by over 13 times from US$658 million in 2010 to US$8.9 billion in 2019 before falling to US$957 million in 2022, no doubt affected by China’s draconian Covid-19 policy. Since their premiere on Lunar New Year this year, Full River Red and Wandering Earth II have been a resounding success domestically, earning more than 4.25 billion yuan (US$618 million) and 3.68 billion yuan respectively. Their overseas box-office takings, however, pale in comparison. State news agency Xinhua reported that Wandering Earth II, the prequel to 2019’s hugely successful Wandering Earth , managed US$2.71 million a week after it was released in North America. That said, the Global Times quoted a film distributor as saying Wandering Earth II had become the highest grossing Chinese-language film in the United Kingdom in the last 15 years, perhaps a sign that Chinese blockbusters are making inroads overseas. Full River Red is a historical suspense comedy set in the Song dynasty. Its Chinese title, Man Jiang Hong , is the title of a famous nationalistic poem composed by Chinese folk hero Yue Fei. In contrast, Wandering Earth II , with its state-of-the-art visuals, showcased China’s technological advancement in filmmaking. In fact, the film’s director, Frant Gwo, also credited the country’s scientific and technological progress as “the biggest foundation” of science fiction films. This film is part of an emerging trend of sci-fi film and television productions, which portray China as the force that unites the world in the face of global crises. Three-Body , a television series based on The Three-Body Problem, a novel by Liu Cixin, has gained a huge following in China since its release in January and will be aired in Japan and Russia. Sci-fi, as a genre, has the potential to capture a larger international audience, as it transcends cultural affinity, unlike shows depicting traditional Chinese culture. What about overtly nationalistic franchises, such as Battle at Lake Changjin and Wolf Warrior ? The former is the most successful film of all time in China, while the latter is the second most successful. While their appeal to domestic audiences is clear, these films appear to run counter to President Xi’s effort to build a more “lovable” image of China internationally. “Wolf Warrior” has even became a buzzword for Beijing’s strident approach to diplomacy, one which contributed to an unfavourable opinion of China globally in recent years. As China shows signs of reigning in its controversial rhetoric overseas, it will be interesting to see whether production of such nationalistic films will retreat as well. Tiong Wei Jie is pursuing doctoral studies in international relations at NTU’s S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) under the NTU Research Scholarship