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This introduction for the Special Issue establishes and substantiates China as a timely case study for the understanding of cultural diplomacy and nation branding. It traces the country's mobilization of creative expressions, including contemporary art, to recalibrate its international image in line with its expanding power, but also more often, to offset what it perceives as hostile representations and critique of its authoritarian rule. We first disentangle the overlapping objectives and strategies between cultural diplomacy and national branding, then how they are rendered through artistic expressions to both redeem and – sometimes unintentionally – undermine China's reputation. Finally, we mark the relationship between the assembled papers which explore a variety of cultural diplomacy and nation branding activities that have emerged out of different artistic traditions, geopolitical contexts and economic motivations. These papers pursue diverse themes, for instance, the misalignment of nationalist branding messages and actual cultural relations on the ground, or the shifting of China's external image as dictated by the evolving agenda of the Chinese Communist Party. The particularities of these approaches and discoveries, nevertheless, coalesce to underscore that knotted relationship between politics and aesthetics which China must manage and manipulate continually to sway global perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the growing phenomenon of public and private partnerships (PPPs) in developing public goods – through a study of a particular instance in the development of SARS vaccine in China. The case highlights the factors shaping this development: The specific nature of SARS vaccine as a public good – which differs from other medical products – as well as the social, economic and political context in China where this development takes place. Our observation points to the pivotal elements of PPP in drawing upon complementary resources for technology development – especially in a developing country like China: The complexity of motives and incentives of individual actors, the governance and organisation of the partnership, and the role of the Chinese government. The case also draws our attention to the different nature of partnership, which may have impacts on the choice of technology, the length of R&D process and long or short term effects to the society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article understands the history of copyright and media in China as co-evolution between two conflicting paradigms. One builds on the Confucian and Communist systems, where cultural production and knowledge creation are collective and commons-based, while the other is similar to the western copyright practices characterized by the legal protection and commercial exploitation of proprietary ownership rights of creative works. The article reviews the complex interplay between the two opposed paradigms in different historical periods and explores the tension between the 'western' models and the 'Chinese' traditions and characteristics in the modernization of copyright and media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this article is to flesh out the theoretical framework of franchise nation first broached in 2009 as a means of understanding the three intersecting relationships between home nation and diaspora, host nation and diaspora, and home and host nations that surround the migrant condition. The term franchise nation seeks to encapsulate and critique the idea that the core elements of a nation's culture can, like all franchises products and services, be replicated to order. I contend such a framework to be necessary because current approaches tend to emphasize certain aspects of migration dynamics at the expense of others. In what follows, I explain why this is so and what the franchise nation frameworks add to the analysis of Chinese migration that would otherwise be absent. Instead of dyadic understandings of the relationship between diaspora and nations that explain diasporic connectivity variously as long-distance nationalism, state-led transnationalism or domestic abroad transnationalism, the franchise nation framework is premised on a triadic relationship between diaspora, home and host nation. Starting with the example of Mainland Chinese provisional business migrants (PBMs), the article explains what the franchise nation framework brings to the investigation of the ways in which their everyday connections via Chinese social media inflect their experience of multiple belongings in Australia. The three arms of franchise nation triad in this instance consist of: the business migration policy that connects the Chinese PBMs to Australia; the diaspora engagement strategies with which China reaches out to the Chinese PBM diaspora; and the soft power policy that China employs in its dealings with other nations like Australia. The aim here is to argue for a change in how the study of migration is approached, shifting from a dyadic to a triadic framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the Maoist-class figures in Jia Zhangke's 24 City (2008) and compares them with those found in Maoist-era visual culture. It examines how the films record the destruction and redevelopment of the social order, and the ways that the Maoist figures in the film have been made wretched or have disappeared. It argues, however, that the echo of their importance still remains, since the middleclass figures that appear in the film fuse previous Maoist elements with the contemporary success of economic reforms. They thus serve as a symbolic solution that combines the Maoist past with the Reform era present, therefore evoking the past to serve the present and the anticipated future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For film studies per se, while film scholars often emphasize how the expression and elicitation of affect or emotions are the central elements of film experience (Smith 2003: 8; Plantinga 2009: 5; Mossner 2014: 6-8), they seem not to clearly differentiate the basic systemic structures of affect and emotions. The film's ecological perspective also marks a thematic disparity between the film and the semi-autobiographical novel Wolf Totem upon which the film is based. Nevertheless, despite the CCP's carefully censoring film productions, the CCP in fact sponsored the film Wolf Totem, awarded the film for its success and also tolerated nationwide environmental discussions triggered by the film. As recent studies on affect and film indicate, the film-viewing process constitutes a special experience, particularly when affect is found at a level of intensity that can be passed from body to body within a public space (Seigworth and Gregg 2017: 1), and for eco-cinema per se, consequently engages us after the viewing experience with a capacity to transform our perception of the world (Ivakhiv 2013: ix; Mossner 2014: 6). [Extracted from the article]

The nature of Chinese consumption and hospitality has evolved rapidly since the post-1980s middle class adopted new lifestyles and consumption choices after the opening up of the economy and society. This study explores the logics underpinning conspicuous consumption of wine in China by way of an exploratory factor analysis of 253 respondents at a wine festival. The study found that conspicuous tendencies manifest themselves with wine consumption, but are affected by culture and traditional values. The study found that social and personal influences mediate how individuals perceive and experience consumption in ways that do not wholly follow western practices. This article contributes to the existing hospitality literature by conceptualizing from a consumer perspective, how a product or brand has the potential to become conspicuous within the Chinese hospitality context and explores implications for hospitality research by generating a thorough understanding of links between conspicuous consumption and hospitality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The media in China and Africa have dedicated considerable space and time to issues on China, Africa and their relationship. While there is quantitative growth in terms of media coverage, there is lack of knowledge on the real issues that define the relationship. In response, University of Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa and Tshinghua University in China initiated reporting projects aimed at training journalists on the best approaches to report on China and Africa. This study analysed all the award-winning stories by using content analysis to inquire into the issues and narratives considered significant in defining China, Africa and their relationship. The study finds that there are differences in terms of issues and focus of the stories but this shows the diversity of the issues to be covered on China and Africa. Most significantly, the study shows that the stories from the two projects used constructive journalism narratives that cast new light on existing stereotypes and explore new controversies. Such narratives have the potential to create better understanding between the people of China and Africa but there is a need to ensure training of more media personnel to ensure sustainability of the initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small hydropower (SHP) is a proven low impact, small-scale, rural electrification technology that has been shown to help shape communities that have applied sustainable energy solutions in the last decades. Using China as a successful example of rural electrification, this article examines SHP's progress and challenges internationally regarding policy, implementation and development. The article concludes that continued triangular cooperation among developing countries (South-South), developed countries (North-South) and international organizations for technology transfer and capacity building should support the transition from individual pilot SHP projects towards the successful implementation of full SHP programmes, while using existing capacities as far as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at a job in China wherein the employees are being paid to play the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft (WoW). The characters created by the employees were being sold to WoW players in North America and Europe. The author shares his experience of visiting the workplace of the employees who play WoW. Xu Xuidong, one of the employees, admits that he is no longer interested in WoW because he's playing it for 12 hours a day.

This article discusses the relationship between Chinese culture and fine art education. It briefly introduces ancient Chinese culture and art education, moves to the development of modern Chinese culture and art education and covers the situation as regards Chinese culture and art education in elementary and secondary schools today. The author also presents his personal beliefs about the basic foundations of fine art education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]