Chinese Media Studies in Global Context

Running head: CHINESE MEDIA STUDIES IN GLOBAL CONTEXT
CHINESE MEDIA STUDIES IN GLOBAL CONTEXT
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1CHINESE MEDIA STUDIES IN GLOBAL CONTEXT
“The globalization of Chinese media has been influenced by and in turn has
influenced global (Western) media” (Thussu, 2018). In the last quarter-century, China has
attained a phenomenal growth in economy and this is because of the combination of massive
infrastructure spending, exports and the gradual market liberalisation. This has culminated in
the entry of China into the WTO (World Trade Organisation) in the year 2001. However,
since then, China has been making a huge and significant investment in its project of “go
global”, comprising of the launching of multi-language satellite TV channels, by staging art
and heritage exhibitions, making sponsorships for the international students for studying in
China and performing cultural programs in international boundaries. Notwithstanding this
fact, the integration of China into the world economy is also been driven by a total of four
different key forces- the booming global trade, the investments of it in international countries,
its rapid economic growth and the FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in China.
This essay aims at describing how globalisation of the media sector of China has been
influenced by and is influencing the global media, with special reference to Western world. In
order to do so, evidences shall be assessed form one of the media sectors of China that are
covered in the weekly topics of this unit of study. Furthermore, this paper shall also examine
the conditions, the advantages as well as the limitations of going global of this media sector
of China. It is to mention that the chosen media sectors is that of the film industry.
In the international film market, china is continuously gaining high attention in the
present world. The box office of china along with the admissions in the film industry are also
developing with each passing year. It is also to mention that the Chinese film and the
companies in relation to it are now able to make the business in international market. The
term ‘globalisation’ is one of the most general terms in this 21st century world. It refers to the
“rapidly developing process of complex interconnections between societies, cultures,
institutions and individuals world-wide” (Lee, 2016). Also, as per Zhao (2010), globalisation

2CHINESE MEDIA STUDIES IN GLOBAL CONTEXT
is the entire world system, the global human condition. Brzeski (2018) also put it as “the
process involving a compression of time and space, and in the 21st century, the relationships
between time and space have developed in unforeseen ways”. It is something that shrinks the
concept or the notion of distance in between the prevailing cultures by significantly reducing
the time that is taken for crossing the distances which separate them physically (Brzeski,
2018). Hence, it is due to this reason that the world seems smaller day by day and in a certain
sense, it brings the human beings in much closer contact with one another than ever before.
Moreover, globalisation also stretch the social relations in between the human beings by
removing the relations that govern day-to-day lives from the local to the global contexts.
As per Van der Kamp, Lorentzen and Mattingly (2017), it is stated that globalisation
of media would result in the process of decentralisation of the power and at the same time,
this would also allow more bottom-up control. However, due to the American monopoly in
the communication research since the World War II, there are some people who consider
mass media as the channel of Westernisation. It is to mention that the flow of media to the
nations that are less developed from the Western part of the world was considered by the
well-developed Western countries as good for not only the recipients but for also the senders
who saw it is a central part of their fight against the issue of totalitarianism and socialism.
However, this ethnocentric point of view of the global communications has drawn a very
critical response from the global scholars and the receiving nations. At the time of Cold War
as well as the different resistance movements within different areas that are still semi-
colonial, the problems became a very inevitable argument. The new media imperialism is
seemed to be succeeding more easily as compared to the earlier international propaganda as
of its different form of simple entertainment as well as the willingness of huge number of
audiences for enjoying the popular culture. With the same, as per the detractors of
globalisation, the global communication are highly connected with the ideas like such as that

3CHINESE MEDIA STUDIES IN GLOBAL CONTEXT
of the cultural imperialism as well as the media imperialism. These detractors consider the
global communication as a type of vehicle that aims at undermining, invading and controlling
the other cultures. However, as per Inglehart (2015), “The transmitted cultural or ideological
pattern has often been seen as an invasion of Western values, particularly those of America”.
The film export revenue has always been an important aspect for the balance sheets of
the major Hollywood firms for a quite long period of time. The revenues that are gained from
the local Chinese market alone would not cover the costs of production that have been on a
steady upward trend. With the same, the support for the exporting films as well as the audio
visual content has long been the mainstay of the foreign policy of the government of United
States, particularly after the Second World War. At the time of Cold War, it is to note that the
main motto was political in nature. Notwithstanding the fact, the economic consideration
have also encourage the government of America for bolstering this strategy.
It is to note that for becoming successful in context of economy, the blockbusters of
China need to play well on the global scenario. This is due to the fact that the domestic
market of China alone could not provide the return on investment. With the same, it is also to
be considered that the costs of marketing and production are continuously rising the all over
the film industry and over the entertainment and media sector in particular. The blockbuster
model has really increased the growth in investment. A higher level has been attained that
some nations could only sustain and so far, it is only China that have tried. However, as it is
already seen, the Chinese nation has a huge local film market and it has introduced the
barriers or challenges for limiting the mainland over the foreign films. Along with this, China
is also playing a very notable role in the global film industry as well. The present trends in
the 21st century in the global film consumption is suggesting that the film industry of United
States might be undergoing some issues and its supremacy in the global market might be at a
high risk. Any of the results would not only be affecting the economy of America but it