China’s Digital Presence in the Asia-Pacific: Culture, Technology and Platforms(1 Anthem Series on Digital China)

China’s Digital Presence in the Asia-Pacific explores China’s digital presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Drawing on political economy of the media, industry analysis, platform studies and cultural policy studies, the book shows that China’s commercial digital platforms are increasingly recognized outside China and can disseminate Chinese culture more effectively than government supported media. It illustrates how these platforms are contributing to Chinese cultural influence, their perceived reputation and obstacles in the region while pursuing a combined approach of culture+, industry+, internet+, and platform+. In considering the multi-layered rise of the China argument, the book considers its growing technological status as an innovative nation through four policy approaches: culture+, industry+, Internet+ and platform+. Other + characterizations include intelligent+ and social+. These + characterizations show how China is rejuvenating, drawing technological knowhow from the region and adding to its cultural (and soft) power. The book focuses on six locations: Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand. The authors analyse Beijing’s changing policies towards the governance of culture, Internet technologies and digital platforms, as well as examining consumer perceptions of China and Chinese products in the Asia-Pacific region.  In using the + characterizations, the authors provide a comprehensive analysis of how Chinese cultural and creative industries became digital, as well as investigating the key players and the leading platforms including Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, TikTok, Baidu, iQiyi and Meituan.

Table of Contents:
List of Tables; List of Abbreviations; Acknowledgements; Introduction: A Giant Awakening?; PART 1 China’s ‘+’ Long Game; 1. Culture +; 2. Industry +; 3. Internet +; 4. Platform +; PART 2 The Asia- Pacific as a Chinese Cultural Landing Pad; 5. Assessing the Evidence; 6. East Asia: Hong Kong and Taiwan; 7. South East Asia: Singapore and Malaysia; 8. Oceania: Australia and New Zealand; 9. From Cultural Presence to Innovative Nation; Appendix: Survey Conducted from August to December 2019; Notes; Index.

About the Author :
Michael Keane is Professor of Chinese Media, School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry, Curtin University, Australia. Haiqing Yu is Associate Professor and Vice-Chancellor's Principal Research Fellow, School of Media and Communication, RMIT University Australia. Elaine Jing Zhao is Senior Lecturer, School of the Arts and Media, University of New South Wales, Australia. Susan Leong is Senior Lecturer, Digital Media and Communication, School of Arts and Social Sciences, Monash University Malaysia.

Review :
“A book length study of China’s internet+ and its increasing influence through cultural and media content on social media apps in the Asia-Pacific region. The authors’ thorough understanding of the digital development in China and their empirically rich, conceptually solid study on China’s influence in the world make the book a most thought-provoking and rewarding read.” — Dr Xiaoling Zhang, Chair Professor in Creative Industry, School of International Communications, University of Nottingham Ningbo China China’s Digital Presence in the Asia-Pacific fills a lacuna in the historiography of the influence of Chinese digital technologies beyond the borders of mainland People’s Republic of China (PRC). It ultimately contributes greatly to the subfields of Chinese digital industries, technology, and economic strategy. This book is required reading for anyone grappling with the TikTok discourse, Chinese digital technology, 21st-century economic policy, and cultural reception, and lays the groundwork for new approaches in scholarship on the “going out” of Chinese culture.—International Journal of Communication, 17 (2023), pp. 4511–4514, Nicholas P. Fernacz, University of Southern California.