The culinary card in China's soft power

China is promoting soft power to the world with diversified forms, in which the food and beverage (F&B) industry becomes an important part.

After taking office for his second term, US President Donald Trump has made many budget cuts and suspended many agencies such as the US Agency for International Development (USAID), causing observers to believe that China will face less competition in developing soft power.

The Rise of China

Regarding this issue, China Daily on March 19 published an article about the rise of China's soft power.

The article cited Brand Finance's Global 500 statistics, showing that the number of Chinese brands on the list has increased from 13 to 68 over the past 17 years, with a total value increase of more than 23 times. In the "advanced science and technology" category, the country's "leading technological innovation" index rose to second place globally. For four consecutive years, China has topped both the "superior business environment" and "future growth potential" rankings.

A Mixue store in Vietnam

The article also pointed out that products such as the game Wukong and the artificial intelligence application Deepseek have contributed to the increase in China's soft power. China Daily quoted Brand Finance CEO David Haigh as saying that the increase in China's soft power comes from sustained investment in economic attractiveness, cultural engagement and governance stability. The development of China's soft power is not a single sprint in any single area but a coordinated progress between the economy, technology, culture and society as a whole.

"For China, soft power serves as a global image that reflects both its achievements and aspirations for development, creating a virtuous cycle of growth combined with hard power. Enhancing soft power builds on hard power. As China strengthens its economic and technological strength, it turns its emerging technological advantages into a powerful vehicle for cultural narratives, greatly enhancing the global reach of its culture," according to China Daily .

The role of the F&B industry

In the cultural aspect of China's soft power building, the F&B industry plays an important role. Not only in technology, Chinese F&B chains such as Mixue ice cream, Chagee milk tea and Luckin coffee, along with some hotpot brands such as Haidilao, are rapidly expanding in Southeast Asian countries.

Chagee milk tea brand is very famous in China

According to AP, Mixue has become the world's largest F&B chain by number of stores, surpassing Starbucks and McDonald's in the US. Specifically, as of September 2024, Mixue Group had more than 45,000 stores selling Mixue tea drinks, ice cream and Lucky Cup coffee products. About 40,000 of them were in China. In addition, AP cited research from Momentum Works (Singapore) Company, estimating that by December 2024, Chinese F&B brands had opened more than 6,100 stores in Southeast Asia.

Think China, citing analysts, said China has promoted a positive image and even expanded its influence through cuisine in Southeast Asia because food is a universal language. Yeta Purnama, a researcher at the Indonesian Center for Economic and Legal Studies, said: "F&B is quite effective in increasing a country's positive image. For example, in Indonesia, anti-Chinese sentiment is quite high, but (even) when they found out that Mixue was an F&B product from China, many Indonesians rushed to buy the product because it went viral on social media." "Mixue's positive image is dominant in Indonesia. This indirectly builds a good image for China," the expert added.

Along with the development of F&B brands is the cultural influence of content, from short videos to short films, entertainment content on social networks to create effective resonance. All aimed at increasing China's soft power towards the rest of the world.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/la-bai-am-thuc-trong-quyen-luc-mem-cua-trung-quoc-185250323223558441.htm