Why 'Cool China' is winning global fans: Global Times
A thought-provoking shift has emerged in the global public discourse: more and more international media outlets have begun using the word "cool" to describe China. When a word rooted in youth and pop culture is naturally applied to a civilization with five millennia of history, it signals a profound change in how the world perceives China. Increasingly, foreign media outlets are affirming that a China full of creativity, confidence, and contemporary dynamism is taking shape - and that China, indeed, is "cool."
For decades, China's most common label was "the world's factory," often associated with busy workshops and labor-intensive assembly lines. Today, China remains "the world's factory," but it has climbed to a higher and more significant position in the global industrial chain. Whether in new-energy vehicles, solar technologies, high-speed rail systems, consumer electronics, or the digital economy, China has acquired the ability to set industry standards - and in some sectors, to lead global trends.
Foreign media now use expressions like "a cultural trendsetter," "China's different" and "authentic confidence" in their China coverage, accompanied not by images of assembly lines, but by drones, robots, and fully automated factories. This shift reflects a global re-evaluation of China's place in the world's innovation landscape.
Recently, Germany's influential daily Die Welt turned its attention to "Labubu", observing how the trend sparked by Pop Mart is sweeping through Europe - from London and Paris to Berlin. From TikTok and Xiaohongshu to "Labubu," from the hit game Black Myth: Wukong to the blockbuster film Ne Zha 2, China's consumer culture and aesthetic expression are concentrating notable global appeal. As Die Welt remarked, the buzz around "Labubu" and the rising favorability toward China worldwide are not fleeting emotions: a "cooler China" is steadily enhancing its soft power. For young people abroad, China is not a distant geopolitical concept. It has become a lifestyle and cultural temperament that feels fashionable, flashy, and approachable - a form of "cool" that is not only something to appreciate, but also something worth following.
When US influencer IShowSpeed danced against a humanoid robot in Shenzhen and tried a "floating electric vehicle," he couldn't help exclaiming that this is so "future." China can be described as "cool" precisely because it showcases the future and the possibilities of human society on multiple levels. When a country can continually generate new products, new models, and new ways of living, global attention naturally follows, and that attention itself is a form of discourse power.
Today, the world no longer understands China only through traditional media or ideological frameworks, but increasingly through platform-based economies, technology products, fashion culture, and urban lifestyles. The emergence of a "Cool China" has naturally loosened the old narrative structures international media once used. This means Western media have been compelled to revise their previously one-sided perceptions of China, while the foundation for a new narrative is being provided by China itself.
The label "cool" captures the composite image and temperament China presents today. When a country's spirit and cultural ethos begin to be appreciated, emulated, and studied, there is no doubt that its position in the global perception landscape is on the rise. As a civilization-state-type major power, China's "cool" is not about exporting influence, but about spreading it through opening-up and cultural inclusiveness. China is "cool" also because of the confidence and forward-looking outlook with which it engages the world. At a time when the countercurrents of unilateralism and protectionism occasionally sweep through the international community, China's philosophy of openness, inclusiveness, and win-win cooperation, and its pursuit of multilateralism and a community with a shared future for humanity, offer something precious to an uncertain world - stability and clarity.
More importantly, "Cool China" reflects China's structural influence in an era of deep global interconnection. From supply-chain systems to new consumer industries, China is shaping how global societies organize themselves and how economic logic evolves. This is a comprehensive civilizational force that goes beyond traditional notions of hard and soft power.
The simple word "cool" contains a deep resonance across cultures. When the world begins to describe China in such an aesthetic, trend-aligned, almost friendly tone, it signifies that China's development has moved beyond growth in scale and speed, entering a phase of high-quality development. It shows that China is becoming increasingly appreciated by the world.
To be "cool" is to be confident, magnetic, creative, and able to empathize with the world. The world thinks China is "cool," which means that more than 1.4 billion Chinese people are becoming respected and admired contributors to the shaping of the global process of civilization.
Source: Global Times:
Company: Global Times
Contact Person: Anna Li
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://globaltimes.cn
City: Beijing
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