Mandalay-based reporter Maung Tar took a 10-day trip to China last year. He visited the Great Wall and Tiananmen Square in Beijing, admired Tianjin city and also traipsed through the famous stone forests of Yunnan province. He didn't have to pay a cent. China has launched a charm offensive of late, inviting journalists, teachers, monks and other influential groups to visit the country, to enhance its reputation amid bad press in the region.

"China needs to develop and demonstrate more ‘soft power’ in order to persuade the world to hold its assets and its currency," Jen wrote. That is "measured by a general sense of admiration and trust from global investors, is more difficult to build and demonstrate."

Authorities haven't given a reason for those moves. But they come as Chinese leaders try to tighten regulation of information circulating via chat apps and on Internet sites. As well, China is seeking to build its own culture of television, movies and animation to counter what it sees as the soft-power influence of the U.S. In a government report released in March, Chinese government planners called on officials to "quicken development of public cultural undertakings including the press and publishing, radio and television, and literature and art as well as the culture industry."