As China strives to achieve its goal of national rejuvenation in a world of complex opinions, there is no doubt it faces tough challenges in promoting its culture and making the country's voices heard. On these fronts, the country's publicity, ideological and cultural departments have played a vital role in communicating the nation's vision since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012. At a conference on publicity and ideological work held in August 2013, President Xi Jinping said, "Facing unprecedented challenges and hardship, we must persist in consolidating mainstream ideology and opinion." Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, stressed positive publicity that upholds unity, stability and encouragement as a key guideline for the country's publicity and ideology work. Party leadership Since the 18th CPC National Congress, Xi has always attached importance to all areas of communication, be it in publicity, ideology or cultural work. Xi has attended several major meetings and delivered a series of speeches on these very issues. Several guidelines have been introduced on the role of literature and the arts, socialist core values, and traditional Chinese culture, all with distinct Chinese characteristics. Authorities have stepped up efforts to promote the key messages in Xi's speeches by sending Party representatives out to communities, schools, companies and the grassroots to communicate this national vision. Reforming media A series of prime-time political documentaries produced by major Chinese networks have recently become huge hits across the country. They have summarized the country's achievements in reform, rule of law, diplomacy and anti-corruption, as well as economic and social development over the past five years. The documentary teams have produced edited clips, just a few minutes long, perfect to connect with people on social media. All this shows how State media are effectively adapting to the modern era. In February of last year, Xi ordered State media to integrate new media with traditional reporting, so that the country could make use of new media's edge in modern communications. Leading State media have given priority to developing mobile platforms and reshaping their reporting processes to coordinate and integrate various tasks. Xi has told media groups to turn up their voices on the global stage, telling stories about the new, modern China, while developing flagship media groups with a strong global influence. On Dec 31, the China Global Television Network was launched with six TV channels, three overseas channels, a video content provider and a cluster of services on new media platforms. State media outlets were established in almost all key regions and major cities across the globe. Socialist core values Promoting socialist core values has long been a key part of the CPC message. According to Xi, such values include the national goals of prosperity, democracy, civility and harmony; the social goals of freedom, equality, justice and the rule of law; and the individual values of patriotism, dedication, integrity and friendship. Xi has said that the deepest and most enduring strength that a nation can have lies in the core values commonly recognized by its society. Since 2013, 116 people have been honored as national models of morality across the country. Campaigns on frugality, trust and civilized behavior have been launched across the nation, turning people into active believers and communicators of the core values that the country holds dear. Cultural prosperity China has been dedicated to speeding up and reforming the development of its cultural industry. In February 2014, a plan was approved to deepen reform on the cultural industry, setting a road map, schedule and task book for how it was going to achieve its goals. Four years later, the industry has basically completed its reforms, and numerous memorable works have been created. In 2016 alone, over 770 films were produced in China. This summer, Chinese action film Wolf Warrior 2 set a record at the domestic box office, pulling in revenue of 5.6 billion yuan ($851.6 million). The epic film tells the fictional story of a former Chinese Special Forces operative's adventures rescuing compatriots and locals in a war-torn region of Africa. XINHUA black rubber braceletscheap wristbands ukadjustable wristbandswide rubber bands24 hour braceletsslap wristbands24 hour wristbands coupon
China could learn from the experience of Tokyo Bay area how to develop the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Great Bay Area, which this year's Government Work Report lists as a central government mission. Bay areas are important growth points and leaders in technological innovation across the world. World Bank data show about 60 percent of the global economy is concentrated in the river delta regions, and the trend of people moving from inland areas of a country to its coasts has intensified. The metropolitan zone in the Tokyo Bay area comprises Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures, covering an area of 13,562 square kilometers. Although the Tokyo Bay's metropolitan area adds up to only 3.5 percent of the total land of Japan, it is home to one-third of the country's population and generates one-third of national GDP. Compared with the densely populated Tokyo Bay area, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Great Bay Area's population of about 100 million is more scattered and concentrated relatively away from the sea, which means there is enough room for development in the coastal areas. The rise of the new economy, especially the service sector, in the mid-1960s when Shinkansen high-speed trains started operation, led to the influx of people from across Japan to the Tokyo Bay area, which further boosted the growth of the agglomeration economy. This in turn gave rise to big city malaise, which became increasingly serious after the area's population crossed 10 million. Surprisingly, though, after the Tokyo Bay area's population reached 40 million, the big city malaise began subsiding thanks especially to the constant improvements in urban infrastructure and management. Opening-up gives rise to diversity, and diversity leads to efficiency. Although the Pearl River Delta region, which consists of 11 cities, is no less diverse than the Tokyo Bay area, the economic interaction among and complementarity of the cities are not up to the mark because of the wide gaps among them in terms of opening up to the outside world. The Tokyo Bay area resorted to harsh environmental protection measures after experiencing a serious pollution crisis, which in turn caused a social crisis in the 1950s and 1960s, and succeeded in solving the industrial pollution problem while upgrading its technology and restructuring the economy. The measures the Tokyo Bay area adopted to address the problems plaguing it could be important lessons for China to effectively manage its large metropolitan areas and improve their infrastructure, especially because the Pearl River Delta region has to improve its urban management, service sector and infrastructure, transportation in particular, to develop the coastal areas, so as to allow the agglomeration economy to truly flourish. Besides, the prefecture-level and city-level governments in the Tokyo Bay area have established effective communication channels and mechanisms, so as to coordinate their planning, construction and development, which is exactly what the 11 cities in the Pearl River Delta region should do. China also has to help develop strong think tanks, because they play an important role in inter-governmental exchanges and communication owing to their greater foresight. The success of the Tokyo Bay area's development indicates China's advanced manufacturing industries should shift to the great bay area to have easier access to global markets and enjoy better industrial interaction. In all probability, the knowledge-intensive economy, supported by information and communication technology and research and development, as well as the high-end service sector will continue to move into the greater bay area. But to facilitate the process, the Pearl River Delta region needs to further open up to the outside world and be more inclusive in terms of foreign ideas and planning process. The planning and development of the Pearl River Delta region should also make the environment a compulsory aspect of its development agenda, in order to avoid going through the painstaking and costly environmental-cleansing process of the Tokyo Bay area. The author is a professor of economics at Tokyo Keizai University and director of Cloud River Urban Research Institute.
