In an effort to increase China’s culture-focused soft power and to secure an international environment conducive to its development and to generate goodwill abroad alongside its economic rise, Confucius Institutes were established as part of China’s "going out" strategy. [...] What has attracted far less attention but plays the same role is the China Cultural Center under the Chinese Ministry of Culture.

“Macao is a place where cultures from the East and West are orchestrated into a beautiful symphony. […] The synergy between culture and tourism enriches visitors’ experience in Macao, and steers the tourism industry and the cultural and creative industry towards sustainable development, ultimately supporting Macao’s quest to become a world center of tourism and leisure,” said Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, president of the festival organizing committee.

China’s top security official has informed Washington that Beijing is looking forward to working with the Trump administration on cybersecurity, a delicate and thorny issue in China-US ties, state media reported. [...] Public Security Minister Guo said cybersecurity cooperation had become “a new highlight in bilateral relations” between the US and China after Xi and Obama created a mechanism for the two nations to discuss crimes in cyberspace.

Traditional Chinese medicine is readily identified with China by people overseas, an official said yesterday, opening a possible new avenue for the nation to project soft power around the globe. Wang Guoqiang [...] attributed traditional medicine’s high recognition to the authority’s attention to its development and the increasing recognition of its value by the international community.

As Hollywood comes to China in desperate search of new, lucrative audiences, China is desperate to harness something of the elusive magic. If it can build its own film industry, the argument goes, it can use it to develop its so-called "soft power", in the same way US movies have carried American values and norms around the world for a century or more.

A total of 20 young leaders from China and Austria have engaged in close discussions and exchanges in a four-day agenda from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3, in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen to enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the two countries. [...] Revolving around topics including cultural inheritance and China-EU interconnectivity, delegates from the two sides have engaged in lively discussions.

The Rebalance author Mercy Kuo regularly engages subject-matter experts, policy practitioners, and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into the U.S. rebalance to Asia. This conversation with Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch – Founder and President of the U.S.-China Education Trust and the first Asian American to hold the rank of U.S. ambassador – is the 70th in “The Rebalance Insight Series.”