Chinese content wins ASEAN hearts

A sreenshot of Chinese animation show Cat's Eye Boy Bao Dada.[Photo/CNTV]

Two years ago, a Chinese boy named Bao Dada became famous in Cambodia. The boy won the hearts of tens of thousands of Cambodian children by safeguarding justice with his intelligence and courage.

Bao Dada is a character in a Chinese animation show called Cat's Eye Boy Bao Dada broadcast on Cambodia's National Television of Cambodia from October 2014. Translated by Guangxi People's Broadcasting Station, it was the first Chinese animation show to have been broadcast in Cambodia.

Cat's Eye Boy Bao Dada is one of a series of Chinese TV dramas and movies being exported to Cambodia as cultural cooperation between the two countries deepens.

In August 2014, GPBS and TVK signed a cooperation agreement to broadcast Chinese TV plays and movies under TVK's "Chinese TV drama" program. Since then, a number of Chinese TV series and movies have been broadcast in the country.

Cambodia is among a number of Southeast Asian countries that are cooperating actively with China in cultural industries, especially internet culture in the digital age. Many Chinese cultural works like TV drama Startling by Each Step and Empresses in the Palace, have been exported to ASEAN countries and gained wide popularity among local audiences.

"ASEAN countries and China have geographical proximity and similar cultural backgrounds. The region has become an important market for overseas development of Chinese internet cultural enterprises," said Ma Feng, deputy director of marketing department of the Ministry of Culture.

"Chinese enterprises' forays into the ASEAN market as part of their larger 'going global' strategy not only bring rich spiritual and cultural enjoyment to local people but deepen cultural exchanges between the two sides," said Ma.

The going global process of Chinese cultural products has been accelerating over recent years. Take online games, for example. Export value of Chinese online games reached $4.53 billion in 2015, up 69 percent year-on-year. More than 700 online games have been exported to other countries so far.

By comparison, the online game industry in the ASEAN region has been underdeveloped, with its market taking up only 1.4 percent of the world's total, according to a report by the Chinese Academy of Telecommunication Research. The market relies heavily on imports.

In Malaysia, the country's mobile service provider, U Mobile, has established partnership with Chinese video-streaming site Youku Tudou Inc to provide videos for local audiences to watch on their mobile devices.

"The program 'I am a Singer' has been quite popular in Malaysia. Chinese cultural content will achieve great development in the country. We will introduce more Chinese videos to our market in the future," said Lee Fook Heng, general manager of U Mobile.

The ASEAN market covers an area of 4.44 million hectares with roughly 600 million people. Twenty-six percent of its population are aged between 15 and 30.

"There is vast space for cultural cooperation between China and ASEAN, as people of the two sides have enthusiasm and aspiration for fostering the collaboration," said Gao Dongxu, chief executive officer and chief analyst at Beijing Entbrains Consulting Co Ltd.

Zhang Li contributed to this story