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ECS0010.1177/13675494211011179European Journal of Cultural StudiesLi and Feng

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European Journal of Cultural Studies

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Nation branding through the © The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/13675494211011179
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to explore the case of China

Xiufang (Leah) Li and Juan Feng

RMIT University, Australia

Abstract
Soccer is seen as an extended instrument to brand China in the post-Beijing Olympic
period. This article explores how the brand of China is expressed and negotiated
through the lens of soccer by adopting the content analysis method to deconstruct
the media texts specific to sports mega-events. The findings show the creation of
a number of media frames accompanied by a new tradition in the representation
of Chinese national identity, featuring the rhetoric of a ‘powerful’ nation and
social prosperity attributed to the projected common goal of elevating China to
be a world soccer superpower by 2050. These media frames provide insights into
the underlying personalities of the country’s brand, including humiliation, world
hegemony, trust and superiority. We argue that the merit of nation branding
in China is more engaged with the inwardly oriented political exercise aiming
at restructuring national identity for the purpose of consolidating the state’s
legitimacy and social cohesion. The proposed sports nation branding framework
expands the scope of critical research on nation branding within the context of
identity politics in relation to sports. It underlines the significance of strengthening
the personality traits of a nation’s brand through developing a thriving soccer
culture. Due to the growing importance of soccer in East Asia, this article has both
domestic and regional significance.

Keywords
China, framing, nation branding, place branding, soccer, sports nation branding
framework

Corresponding author:
Xiufang (Leah) Li, School of Media and Communication, RMIT University, Building 9.5.39, GPO
Box 2476, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia.
Email: Leah.li@rmit.edu.au
2 European Journal of Cultural Studies 00(0)

Introduction
Nation branding is understood as the practice of governments collaborating with public
relations firms and corporate business to foster a country’s image and/or reputation for
the purpose of advancing its global competitive advantage and international influence
through the reliance on economic and political means. This conceptualization demon-
strating strong instrumental research orientations is labeled as a form of technical-eco-
nomic and political approach in nation branding (Kaneva, 2011). Accounting for the
linkage between nation branding and nation building in the construction of national iden-
tity (Polese et al., 2020), Kaneva (2011: 127) points to the importance of evoking a new
wave of critical cultural scholarship on nation branding, which seeks to capture the
implication of nation branding for ‘national identity, culture, and governance’. The above
perspectives give rise to the notion that nation branding initiatives led by governments
adhere to the dual aims of building a nation’s tangible (e.g. the growth of a country’s
global competitive advantage) and intangible (e.g. international influence and nation
building) assets by targeting international as well as domestic publics (Kania-Lundholm,
2016; Li, 2020; Valaskivi, 2016). Following this line, sports being regarded as an integral
part of culture acts as a vehicle to boost a nation’s brand in the service of reaching these
aims through successful performance of a nation’s team in international sports events in
addition to the nation’s opportunity to champion the events (Freeman, 2012; Li, 2017).
In the case of China, soccer functions as one form of sports bolstering national iden-
tity and global influence, and success in soccer symbolizes the country’s substantial
influence in the world (Li, 2020). However, for the fourth tournament in succession, the
Chinese national men’s soccer team did not qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and
the Chinese youth national men’s soccer team has failed to qualify for the FIFA U-20
World Cup for the past seven tournaments since 2005. The position of the national wom-
en’s soccer team on the FIFA’s ranking slipped from the 5th in 2003 to the 16th in 2019.
The succession of disappointing outcomes doesn’t sit well with China’s emerging super-
power status and the vision of becoming a world soccer superpower by 2050 (Li, 2020).
It reveals Chinese insecurity of being an ‘inferior power’ (Wan, cited in Connell, 2018:
9) and provokes feelings of historical humiliation in Chinese society (Delgado and Villar,
2020). In a broader context, sports are more political in Asia than in Europe and America.
Japan is using soccer to reclaim its position in Asia in the current century (Kelly, 2013),
while South and North Korea played two soccer matches in 2018 and 2019 with the
intention of breaking the ice in their mutual relationship. Given the underdeveloped
state, soccer in Asia is expected to have a promising future (Horne and Manzenreiter,
2016). Strong state intervention characterizes the rise of soccer in this region, which is
forged as a national project being interwoven with nationalist ambitions and domestic
policies (Weinberg, 2015).
The media are ‘both the canvas for and instruments’ in nation branding (Bolin and
Miazhevich, 2018: 530) and governments bear the main responsibility for management
of a country’s reputation (Kaneva, 2018). In China, the central government requires the
media to guide the public to have a good understanding of the country’s soccer status quo
and establish reasonable expectations on competition results (General Office of the State
Council, 2015). Due to Beijing’s commitment to brand the country via sports and the
Li and Feng 3

rising status of soccer in East Asia, the aim of this article is to investigate how the brand
of China is expressed and negotiated to acquire political, cultural and social goals through
soccer-related mega-events. Drawing upon the critical tradition of nation branding schol-
arship (Kaneva, 2011; Volcic and Andrejevic, 2016), the research questions (RQs) con-
cern the intersection of nation branding and soccer in the representation and (re)
construction of national identity. These look into the following:

RQ1. How did the Chinese state-owned media brand the country during soccer-related
mega-events?
RQ2. Did this branding approach contribute to the reputation of the country while
serving the aims of nation branding?
RQ3. What is the implication of this sports nation branding approach for branding
China and broader international actors?

Under the premise that original meanings of a brand are mediated by brand receivers in
a dynamic ecosystem, an interpretation discrepancy between desired brand and registered
brand is likely to exist. In comparison to the former concept, referring to what brand crea-
tors desire to communicate, the latter is identified as perceptions of that brand in the minds
of brand receivers (Anttiroiko, 2016). Given that this article aims to examine the ways
Chinese state actors utilize sports in the promotion of the country’s brand from the desired
brand perspective, investigation into how foreign media outlets portray China from the
registered brand perspective is beyond the scope of this study. Thereby, we sourced the
reports produced by China Daily (CD) e-paper (International edition) between 1 June and
16 July in 2018 via the ProQuest Central database to form the corpus, adopting the key-
words ‘World Cup’.1
Our analytical approach is informed by framing theory using the content analysis
method. To frame refers to the communication process of selecting ‘some aspects of a
perceived reality’ and make them more prominent than the remaining aspects of this
perceived reality (Entman, 1993: 52). Journalists and media organizations apply framing
(un)consciously to present ‘facts’ to societies, which influences public attitudes toward
social issues (Curran and Gibson, 2020). Thus, all the data were structured by the coders
into the different dimensions in the sports nation branding framework proposed in this
study, via assessing the main theme of each report.2 We then closely examined the texts
to identify (1) which media frames were formulated, addressing RQ1, and (2) how they
were crafted based upon the subtheme, the tone and the news style (e.g. hard or soft
news) of that report, responding to RQ2. As the deconstruction of frames needs to be
placed within context (Miazhevich, 2018: 579), our interpretation of the media frames
concerned the broader context of Chinese identity politics and soccer policies. This
offers the response to RQ3.
This article starts by reviewing the concept and the underlying reasons for the govern-
ment’s motivation in nation branding by discussing different research strands. This leads to
the point that to probe nation branding from a critical vantage point would comprehen-
sively explain the interplay of power and identity instilled in the process of branding a
nation, which involves the personality traits (PTs) of the nation’s brand. The second section
4 European Journal of Cultural Studies 00(0)

puts forward a sports nation branding framework aligning with the discussion about the
prominence of sports in nation branding and the contextualization of critical research on
this research area. Following that, this proposed framework is adopted as a guide to tracing
the rationales behind soccer development in China. The fourth section presents the find-
ings, and in the last section, this article moves beyond that to explore the implication of this
nation branding practice by situating it within the broader historical context.
The main contribution of this study is to unpack the ways that soccer performs as a
vehicle to mobilize national identity resources and influence nation building in attempts to
ensure the twin functions of nation branding. Capitalizing upon the three-dimensional
essence of commercial branding and integrating sports with nation branding, the concep-
tual development of the sports nation branding framework reiterates the significance of
undertaking critical approaches in nation branding research. It empirically expands critical
research scope on this topic through the lens of sports regarding identity politics, underlin-
ing the value of strengthening the PTs of a nation’s brand. The research outcomes shed light
on the state of China’s nation branding and offer a lens to understand how governments in
the eastern subregion of Asia leverage sports activities to brand the countries.

Reconceptualizing the three dimensions of nation

branding
Nation branding involves the deployment of strategies to identify, communicate and
manage national image and reputation with regard to a nation’s economic, political and
cultural strength. The different strands of research about this phenomenon show that
engagement with various disciplines determines the purposes of nation branding. Kaneva
(2011) classifies the strands as the ‘technical-economic, political, and cultural
approaches’. The first perspective defines nation branding as a strategic tool for the
enhancement of a nation’s global competitiveness, having a strong background in the
fields of marketing, management and tourism (Kaneva, 2011). Within this stream, coun-
tries must attract investment, talent and tourists in order to stand out from a crowd of
competitors in the global marketplace (Anholt, 2007). Domestically, the goal of building
a strong national brand is to boost sales and exports, raise settlement, and create jobs for
local residents (Fan, 2006).
The political strand conceptualizes nation branding as a means to improve the inter-
national status and influence of a nation in accordance with the disciplines of interna-
tional relations, public relations and international communication (Kaneva, 2011).
Research adopting this tradition is characterized by elaboration on the intersection
between nation branding, public diplomacy and soft power (Aronczyk, 2013). The cou-
pling of the first and the second stream notes an instrumental focus on advancing a
nation’s strength in the economic and the political sphere. The cultural tradition builds
upon the fields of media and cultural studies, and critically decodes narratives and the
practice of nation branding (Kaneva, 2011). It features a domestic orientation examining
the reliance on nation branding initiatives to foster a sense of nationhood in the service
of securing power politics in conjunction with economic agendas (Browning, 2015).
Other critical studies (e.g. Miazhevich, 2018; Pamment and Cassinger, 2018) examine
the roles of the media as one of the active agencies in perpetuating ‘nation branding
Li and Feng 5

ideas, images, ideologies, discourses and practices’ through the institutional, commer-
cial, technological and symbolic nexus (Bolin and Miazhevich, 2018: 528).
The three research streams indicate that the different facets of values are interweaved
in the process of nation branding, including economic (a nation’s global competitive-
ness), political (international influence) and cultural (national identity, culture and gov-
ernance). Externally, a strong global competitive advantage enables a given nation to
grow its power and amplify its influence in the world. Internally, nation branding con-
tributes to national unity through boosting national esteem, expressing national pride and
strengthening the ‘us’ feeling (Szondi, 2007). The success of nation branding campaigns
is conductive to shaping a favorable perception of the nation among international and
domestic publics, potentially benefiting the country in a way that ensures the double
aims of nation branding.
However, the technical-economic strand, having an outward-directed and business-
driven focus, overlooks the impact of domestic implications. For instance, the consolida-
tion of domestic power politics functions by marketing economic policies and promising
economic prosperity in exchange for the citizens’ understanding and support for domes-
tic political legitimization (Desatova, 2018). The influence of ‘market-based rationali-
ties’ on identity politics creates the danger that the meanings of a nation’s brand lack
differentiation (Browning, 2015: 203). National identity is tailored to satisfy commercial
interests in the global environment within ahistorical, decontextualized and depolitical-
ized contexts (Kaneva and Popescu, 2011). The concern points to the relationship with
nationalism, encompassing whether nation branding is ‘a benign form of nationalism’
similar to patriotism or ‘a malign form of nationalism’ that can cause ‘international or
civil conflict’ (Woods and Dickson, 2017: 170) or ‘a commercial form of nationalism’ –
using nationalism to acquire commercial interests and public sectors applying business
strategies to drive nationalism and national agendas (Volcic and Andrejevic, 2016: 2).
Nationalism is engaged with projecting an imagery of a safe place for the citizens in the
hope of easing their anxiety in an increasingly complicated and globalized world
(Kinnvall, 2004). Likewise, nation branding serves as the mechanism to enable state
actors to search for a sense of ontological security and (self-) esteem for the nation and
their citizens (Browning, 2015). This common attempt to seek reassurance about a sense
of identity and certainty is of utmost importance for the construction of national identity
(Browning, 2015). Thus, the critical reading of nation branding conceives this practice as
a powerful instrument for proactive nation building (Browning, 2015; Daniel, 2010;
Polese et al., 2020).3
In comparison with the obvious-but-oblique political value, the economic value of
nation branding is concrete. It can be evaluated by the national brand hexagon model
based upon financial performance of the six sectors of a nation (e.g. the people, tourism,
exports, governance, investment and immigration, culture and heritage) (Anholt, 2006).
From this angle, the brand of a nation bears a strong resemblance to that of a corporation
(Rasmussen and Merkelsen, 2012). Capturing the essence of commercial branding, the
brand of a nation is constituted by three dimensions, including physical attributes (PAs),
functional attributes (FAs) and PT (Li, 2017). The PA of a nation’s brand refers to
‘actions, investments, policies and communications’ happening within the six sectors of
a nation (Anholt, cited in Li, 2017: 253–254) in addition to the brand’s recognizable
6 European Journal of Cultural Studies 00(0)

features (e.g. name, sign and symbol). FA involves what the actions, investments, poli-
cies and communications mean to the referred international actors, such as benefits or
costs. PT illustrates the intangible meaning of a nation’s brand that ideally can build the
connection with the personal beliefs of target publics (Li, 2017). The combination of
these attributes determines the value of a nation’s brand.
The discussion above notes that nation branding is a highly politicized and ideologi-
cal exercise driven by states to engender changes in their citizens’ attitudes and behaviors
(Desatova, 2018). The foundation of that starts with the cultivation of a sense of national
identity with the purpose of consolidating social cohesion and generating social support
for the legitimacy of internal political institutions. This identity-shaping effort is inter-
spersed with given political, economic and social agendas situated within a dynamic
social system. The instrumental research perspectives allow for investigation of the PA
and the FA of a nation’s brand, while the cultural realm is conductive to uncovering this
brand’s PT. Hence, using critical cultural approaches to examining nation branding
would produce an insight into how power and identity penetrate the profit-driven process
of branding a nation, and contribute to a comprehensive understanding of nation brand-
ing practice directed by the instrumental strands.

Sports nation branding framework

Sports have a great capacity to grow the three-dimensional essence of a nation’s brand.
Being transformed from ‘amateur-based playful activities’, sports have become ‘a multi-
billion-dollar global business and established industry’ (Gratton et al., 2012: 12). The
result of commercializing sports develops the first two dimensions of a nation’s brand –
PA and FA. Furthermore, sports have an impact on shaping a country’s global reputation
and promoting a sense of national unity among domestic publics. To win international
sports competitions, national teams are required to comply with globally unified rules
and standards, which affects the message that a nation wants to claim to the world and
may generate a positive global image (Haut et al., 2017). Politicians rely on acquiring
world sports championships to legitimize a nation’s political system (Allison, cited in
Murray and Pigman, 2013). This is because ‘cheering on athletes and teams clad in the
colors of one’s flag generates emotions of joy or anger among countrymen’ (Cha, 2016:
141). It conveys ‘nationalistic symbolism’ to the domestic people (Paasi, cited in Koch,
2012: 42) and becomes a catalyst for national pride. From this aspect, achievements in
international sports competitions help to enhance the PT of a nation’s brand.
The dynamics of sports in nation branding are exemplified via hosting sports mega-
events. Potential economic rewards are one of the motivators for governments to bid for
events. The host is inclined to initiate urban development upgrades featuring sustainability,
technologies and lifestyles to meet the criteria of staging mega-events (Thomson et al.,
2017). The influx of foreign tourists to experience sports events in the host country invigor-
ates the growth of the leisure consumption and tourism industries (Cornelissen et al., 2011).
On the negative side, the large number of tourists might impose a heavy burden on the
environment, thus raising governance cost (Cornelissen et al., 2011). In addition, the host
country has a high chance of being exposed to global media scrutiny of critical domestic
affairs (e.g. corruption, human rights violations and environmental deterioration)
Li and Feng 7

Physical attributes (PA)

Sports competition,
sports development plans,
sports-related infrastructure,
recognizable features of sports
events, stadiums etc.
To build a nation’s global Technical-economic approaches
competitive advantage

The tech-economical approach

Functional attributes (FA) The political approach

Tangible benefits to national Nation branding To grow a nation’s Political approaches
and international stakeholders through the lens of sports international influence
via sports-related activities

To enhance nation building Critical approaches

Personality traits (PT)

Nationalism, local pride,

domestic and international
sports-related values

Figure 1. Proposed sports nation branding framework.

(Brannagan and Giulianotti, 2015). The above benefits and downsides transform certain
aspects of the PA and the FA of a nation’s brand. It affects how the country is perceived at
home and worldwide, and creates differences in the PT dimension of the host’s brand.
Integrating with the different research streams in exploring a nation’s brand, this study puts
forth a sports nation branding framework. It identifies what ways sports impact the three-
dimensional essence of a nation’s brand and which research approaches are suitable to
generate insights into how the aims of nation branding are served (see Figure 1).
This framework places an emphasis on enhancing the PT of a nation’s brand despite
the fact that the three dimensions of PA, FA and PT are interdependent. When the PT of
a nation’s brand becomes appealing, it encourages international publics to ‘buy the prod-
ucts of brand states, that is, their foreign policies’ (Van Ham, 2008: 128), and this tends
to elicit a favorable relationship between the brand and its target publics (Li, 2017).
Within the context of sports, raising local pride and a strong sense of nationhood becomes
a powerful means to tie the brand of a nation with the domestic people, and demonstrat-
ing the alignment of the nation’s sporting culture with international accepted standards
allows for the forging of a productive relationship between this brand and the interna-
tional community. Along these lines, this framework is termed as a value-driven rather
than a profit-driven branding mode. It helps to uncover the mechanism of sports for
elevating the PA, FA and especially the PT of a nation’s brand in specific relation to the
interplay of power and identity.

Branding China through soccer

Since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), sports in China have
retained the role of serving propaganda and diplomatic purposes. In recent years, this
prominence has been reinforced as part of the Belt and Road Initiative with the focus on
initiating sports exchanges and providing support to Belt and Road member countries
when they launch a bid to stage a major international sports event (National Development
and Reform Commission, 2015). Between the 1980s and the early part of the 21st century,
Beijing promoted competitive sports with the aim of receiving international recognition
8 European Journal of Cultural Studies 00(0)

and national unity, featuring the pursuit of Olympic Glory – to win the maximum amount
number of Olympic medals (Liu et al., 2017). However, this strategy faces challenges due
to the country’s established superpower status, rigid sport administration system, the ris-
ing cost of competing at the Olympics and the surging demand for public participation in
sports (Li, 2017).
Soccer is seen as an extended sporting means to brand China in the post-Olympic
period (Li, 2020). It derives from the potential for contributing to international relations,
national identity and the Chinese society (Li, 2020), and allows the country to reach a far
wider field of world sports competitions through citizen engagement and vast publicity
(Pamment and Cassinger, 2018). In 2015, the Chinese government stated that advance-
ment of soccer is of great significance to the country’s global influence and national
pride as well as to the Chinese people’s psyche, cultural life, patriotism, sporting culture
and sports industry (General Office of the State Council, 2015). Since then, it has started
transforming the country from ‘a major sports country’ into ‘a world soccer power’ by
2050 (Tan et al., 2016).
One of the strategies to lift China’s soccer fortunes is to prioritize growing campus
soccer. This means children commencing soccer education at the schools and kindergar-
tens nominated by the Ministry of Education (MOE) (Tan et al., 2016). The responsibility
for developing on-campus soccer shifted from the Chinese Football Association (CFA) to
the MOE. Relying on lottery profits of 5.6 million yuan per year, the CFA has encountered
a funding shortage (Tan et al., 2016). Furthermore, the stereotype associating homegrown
soccer players with low academic performance and poor career options impedes the
growth of youth soccer players (Liu et al., 2019). Under the leadership of the MOE, soccer
training is merged with school education to cultivate soccer talents with academic success
(Chen, 2017), which helps to ease the stereotype. Importantly, soccer is seen as ‘an edu-
cational tool’ and ‘a mechanism for social transformation’ (Delgado and Villar, 2020:
226). Hence, the MOE having adequate resources to regulate the country’s educational
system is in a better position to ensure that this soccer promotion strategy is implemented
via school education in the hope of achieving social unity via social classes.
Although it may take half a generation or more for the plans to bear fruit, China’s soc-
cer reform has produced limited achievement at the international level. The heavy invest-
ment in physical infrastructure and campus soccer in addition to the acquisition of foreign
soccer talents and clubs are regarded as creating hurdles in nurturing indigenous players,
individual creativity and teamwork (Connell, 2018). The absence of interconnectedness
between soccer and society does not help with the quest for a soccer superpower status
(Delgado and Villar, 2020). Regarding potential value to the PT of a nation’s brand, soc-
cer is accepted as one of the contributors to nationalism, ethnicity, community identity
and cultural specificity (Bandyopadhyay et al., 2017). Hosting or winning at sports
mega-events signifies a validation of the country’s search for recognition being recog-
nized by the world community and of overcoming a ‘century of humiliation and shame’
(Xu, 2009: 6). Nevertheless, the national men’s soccer team has rarely been a source of
Chinese pride.
The ‘Century of Humiliation’ commemorates the period starting from China’s defeat
in the Opium War in 1839 to the victory of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the
Chinese civil war in 1949 (Kaufman, 2010). The state actors dwell on this national
Li and Feng 9

trauma as a rhetorical instrument in the service of nation building and international rela-
tions. This involves the promotion of Chinese nationalism to obtain support for the CCP
regime, which is depicted as the crucial force to beat Western colonial powers and
Japanese imperialists in modern history, as well as being a model of how China should
interact with the international system (Kaufman, 2010). However, Chinese national
identity is interspersed not only with the weakness linked to national humiliation but
also the strength deriving from Chinese civilization (Liao, 2013). The second compo-
nent constitutes the source of the Chinese pride (Gries, 2006). This ‘dualistic’ national
identity enables the state to accomplish inward goals by ‘connecting the normative
structures of domestic conventions’ and outward goals by laying out ‘a vision for the
state’s course of action’ on the international stage (Liao, 2013: 148). This point in con-
nection to the previous discussion unveils the role of Chinese identity politics in inter-
mingling with the three-dimensional essence of a nation’s brand to serve the outer and
the inner plans of the Chinese state within the context of soccer.

Analysis
In response to RQ1, the findings showed that the PA and the FA dimension obtained the
higher level of media presence, accounting for 41.4 and 33.2 percent of the reports, while
the coverage dealing with PT was minimal (25.4%). The reports involving FA and PT
were covered positively (62.5% and 58.1%), and the majority of the stories relating to PA
were presented in a neutral light (90%). This implied that CD highlighted the material
rewards of the country’s participation in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Besides that, the fol-
lowing media frames were created to promote the country, consisting of the self-reflec-
tion frame, the soccer contribution frame, the responsible governance frame, and the
local pride and nationalism frame.
Regarding RQ2, the analysis showed that each of the media frames revealed different
aspects of the personalities of the China brand, including humiliation, world hegemony,
trust and superiority. In accordance with the sports nation branding framework, strong
brand resonance is built upon the appealing PT of a nation’s brand. Due to the low visi-
bility of the PT and the silence of media coverage relating to soccer values, which is
essential to engage domestic and international publics, this study holds that this branding
approach does not enable the long-term growth of the country’s reputation. It instead
concentrates on serving the inner-directed aim of nation branding – the construction of
national identity. See the discussion below.

Self-reflection frame and humiliation

This frame presented an overview of Beijing’s self-reflection on the challenges of the
path toward reaching the top ranks of soccer, while revealing the attempt to use the his-
tory of national humiliation in shaping national identity. It first sought the training and
investment in young soccer players through schools and youth clubs as the fundamental
solution (20 June; 14 July). This frame then reflected on the widening gap with the coun-
tries like Iceland, Japan and Russia on the soccer pitch. Comparing with Iceland, the
smallest country by population entering the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, one of
10 European Journal of Cultural Studies 00(0)

the reports questioned why despite being blessed with a large population of over 1.3 bil-
lion, the world’s top paid players and a climate ideal for playing soccer, China develops
this form of sport slowly (20 June). In the report Much still to be done to achieve goal of
improving national soccer team (28 June a), the juxtaposition between China and Japan,
the key rival in East Asia (Yahuda, 2014), urged Beijing to surpass Japan in the battle for
soccer supremacy, stating that

China started its professional soccer league in 1994, one year after the J League was established
in Japan. But China’s ranking in the world has fallen from around 50th to 90th since then, while
Japan has risen from about 60th to 40th. (28 June a)

The comparison was then expanded to Russia, the key hegemonic competitor of China in
the Asian-Pacific regions (Hsu and Soong, 2014). Restoring the historical scene of the
collapse of the Soviet Union, the report Russia soccer success as example (6 July a)
highlighted the breakthrough of the Russian soccer team in qualifying for the quarter
finals in the 2018 World Cup – ‘. . . Russia’s success this summer should serve to inspire
the Chinese team’ (6 July a).
Considering the Century of Humiliation narrative, the power disparity between
Iceland and China in addition to the complex Sino-Russian strategic partnership, these
reports were tainted with the ongoing sense of Chinese inferiority and insecurity. In light
of Oh’s work (Oh, 2013), it can be argued that the construction of national identity is
dependent on the commonalities among group members and the differentiation from the
‘Other’. Drawing on the contrasts with the performance of the three countries on the
international soccer field, CD attempted to leverage this tournament to unite the Chinese
to work toward the goal of transforming the country into a regional and ultimately global
soccer power. This goal-setting exercise helps to sustain the common features among the
ingroup members, and the achievement of that allows the reassertion of the Chinese state
and the non-state actors in the world.

Soccer contribution frame and hegemony

Being loaded with the hegemonic discourses, this frame embraced Beijing’s active
involvement in Russia 2018 as a contribution to local and global actors. A significant
amount of the reports framed this global sporting extravaganza as a tremendous oppor-
tunity for both the established and the low-profile Chinese brands to increase their global
exposure (8 June; 13 June a; 13 June b; 22 June a; 28 June b; 2 July; 5 July a; 13 July a).
The coverage included information about how local (e.g. Incom Recycle and BGG
Recycle) as well as global businesses (e.g. TerraCycle) thrived on revenue generated
through high-tech waste management at this World Cup (22 June b; 5 July b).
The Chinese community was engaged by CD to promote the brand of China, includ-
ing Chinese soccer fans, Chinese Internet celebrities and Chinese veteran businessmen.
One of the reports Chinese fans ready for World Cup festivities (12 June a) described the
Chinese soccer fans as the second highest spenders in ticket packages and hospitality
services, producing a $65 million reward for Russia. Domestically, tens of thousands of
Chinese livestreaming hosts – as represented by Internet celebrity Li Jin – made an
Li and Feng 11

enormous fortune by predicting the winners of this World Cup and recommending sports
products to viewers (5 July a). Another 42-year-old male entrepreneur, Hu Hao, manu-
factured and exported flags to 196 countries for global soccer events (13 June b). These
feature stories positively associated the country’s ambition to ascend to soccer super-
power status with the opportunity to gain individual wealth.
This frame elaborated on the global vision of the Chinese tech giant Alibaba – to
become a global leader in e-commerce, sports content production and sports entertain-
ment consumption (12 June a; 13 June c; 14 June a; 4 July; 5 July a). A group of reporting
further highlighted the country’s contribution to the global environment as a world leader
in renewable energy production (22 June b; 5 July b; 5 July c). Beyond that, Beijing’s
massive investment in the digital TV project in rural Kenya encouraged the African com-
munity to perceive the Chinese nation in a favorable light (16 July). Descriptions, such
as ‘power shift’ (22 June a), ‘leading the world’ (22 June b), ‘rewriting the rules’ (5 July
a), ‘overtake the United States’ (28 June b) and ‘surpassed . . . Russia’ (13 July a), char-
acterized the reporting. The attempt to distinguish China from the two superpowers, the
United States and Russia, was exemplified by the following comment on this event
sponsorship:

The amount (of the Chinese sponsorship) is $400 million more than the second-biggest spender,
the United States, and easily exceeds that of host country Russia. . . . (22 June a)

As noted by Delgado and Villar (2020: 227), hegemony involves ‘. . . presenting the
issue as a matter of general interest’ and the hegemon nation acting as a role model for
other countries to follow. The scholars posit that sports can facilitate hegemonic actions
by inducing consent and social practices. Through describing the distinctive roles of the
Chinese businesses in this tournament as business partners, sponsors and supporters, CD
grappled with the combination of these stories to exhibit the country’s economic might,
in addition to portraying the country’s ambition for international soccer success as a
global project beneficial to local and global communities.
The coverage of China’s strong engagement with Russia 2018 from the perspectives
of business and the people created the impression that Beijing’s soccer dream was in
support of ‘FIFA’s vision to increase soccer participation to 60 percent of the global
population by 2026’ (22 June a). Consequently, this frame served to divert public atten-
tion away from the national team’s failure to qualify for this soccer tournament to instead
focus on the country’s emerging superpower status. It did not show any traces of China’s
victim mentality but rather underpinned the aim of earning the support for the plans for
acquiring hegemonic intentions through partnering with domestic and international
counterparts. This observation was reinforced by the invisibility of the coverage involv-
ing negative public sentiments toward the failure of the Chinese national men’s team in
this tournament.

Responsible governance frame and trust

This frame intended to promote the credibility of the state government by formulating
the theme of responsible governance from the aspects of intellectual property rights
12 European Journal of Cultural Studies 00(0)

(IPR), environment and public safety. Reportedly, the General Administration of Customs
embarked on a national campaign to crack down on IPR infringement during Russia
2018 (15 June a; 28 June c). The report IP Scene (21 June a) exclusively illustrated
China’s strides in anti-infringement and anti-counterfeiting, noting that ‘. . . the compos-
ite index of China’s IP has risen by 9 percent year-on-year, bringing the country to a rank
of 29th worldwide’. Referring to the Global Innovation Index 2018 as ‘a “tool for action”
for decision-making’, this item reinforced Beijing’s plan for raising social awareness of
IP and seeking sustainable innovation-driven policy strategies that conform to interna-
tional norms.
Outside China, the country’s IPR protection is seen as ‘inadequate’ and the infringe-
ment as ‘rampant’ (Huang, 2017: 47). When bidding for the 2008 Summer Olympics, the
state government and the Chinese Olympic Committee promised that it would secure
legislation protecting Olympic-related IPR (Mendel and Yijin, 2003). It recast the nega-
tive reputation by showing its enforcement and protection of IPRs during the 2008
Olympic Games (Mey, 2009). Considering this historical context, CD grabbed Russia
2018 as another opportunity to regain global attention on the country’s commitment to
complying with the global provisions of the actions relating to IPR.
In response to one of the missions that FIFA and the Russian Local Organizing
Committee attempted to achieve – to be greener and more sustainable – a total of four
episodes documented China’s innovative solutions for waste and recycling management
at home and abroad (21 June b; 22 June b; 5 July b; 5 July c). The coverage positioned
the government favorably, which provided substantial support to grow the recycling sec-
tor by introducing tax and fiscal incentives, as well as stimulating innovation, sustaina-
bility and collaboration with international companies (5 July b; 22 June b). Tom Szaky,
founder and CEO of TerraCycle, offered praise that ‘The government has been very
supportive as well in terms of green and sustainable business’ (22 June b). This quote in
favor of the state government given by a foreign CEO was likely to add value to the
international perception of Beijing.
Internally, Chinese government institutions were described as responsive in resolving
citizens’ concerns about public safety in drunk-driving, flu vaccines, food, registration
services (e.g. real estate) and cyber-telecom crimes (19 June). The coverage of the
Chinese police succeeding in combating illegal online gambling groups that colluded
with overseas networks (30 June; 9 July a; 11 July; 12 July; 13 July b) and demonstrated
the capability of the Chinese authority to handle cross-border crimes in the promotion of
a healthy soccer culture.
By projecting the image of being a responsible and capable global actor, the above
signaled the purpose of this frame – to build a sense of trust in the Chinese government
at a national and a world level. It coincided with the claim that the states in East Asia
‘rely on the global appeal of soccer to . . . express authority, and win trust on the world
stage’ (Manzenreiter, cited in Li, 2020: 109). Nevertheless, this outcome could be diluted
by downplaying the episodes relating to violent behaviors (e.g. verbal insult, hooligan-
ism, vandalism) (15 June b; 21 June c; 22 June c; 25 June d; 9 July b) at this World Cup
and gender equality in soccer (28 June d). Compared with the feature stories narrating
the government’s achievements, these were hard news reports without insights. Moreover,
there was an absence of reporting on the universal values in soccer, including
Li and Feng 13

transparency, accountability, integrity, solidarity, courage, justice and democracy (FIFA,

2019). The difference between these framing approaches implied the possible gap
between Beijing’s and the global belief in soccer values.

Local pride and nationalism frame and superiority

This frame conveyed the message that soccer in China aimed to build bridges to connect
the citizens with the nation as well as with the people within and outside that geographi-
cal barrier, evident in the attempt to raise local pride and benign nationalism. For instance,
both fans and athletes around the world were proud of the engagement of their national
soccer teams and themselves with the 2018 FIFA World Cup (29 June; 3 July; 5 July d; 5
July e). Conversely, ultranationalism needed to be discouraged (28 June e; 14 June b; 15
June b). One of them criticized German fans’ fierce attack on two Turkish-born German
soccer players presenting the Turkish president with a Manchester City shirt with a logo
saying ‘to my president’ (15 June b).
Within China, the feature story Express rail to Europe relies on dedicated workers
all the way (10 July) emphasized in a positive tone the railway workers’ dedication to
delivering excellent China–Europe Railway Express services, especially at this World
Cup. A train driver, Jiang Tong, expressed that ‘The express . . . needs all of us’.
Furthermore, ‘the Chinese soccer fans are happy to see Japan’s performance on and off
the soccer field in the World Cup . . .’ (6 July b). As noted by Woods and Dickson
(2017), a benign form of nationalism can build a common identity and create cohesion
within society. In this vein, CD attempted to frame citizen participation in this tourna-
ment as a driver for social unity, and the creation of an inclusive soccer culture to
motivate local athletes and fans to accept foreign players as fertile ground for the
growth of soccer.
Another feature story World Cup highlights two sides of Japan (6 July b) intended to
strengthen national identity through boosting self-esteem and acquiring international
recognition. Reportedly, Japan’s 2–3 loss to Belgium at Russia 2018 sparked two sets of
Chinese reaction on social media. One stream spoke highly of Japanese civic and
hygienic practices, and the other condemned Japan’s refusal to admit its invasion and
occupation of China. Responding to these opposite extremes, this item directed the read-
ers’ attention to the collective narrative of the Century of Humiliation and the national
pride of Chinese civilization, by commenting that

The other prominent debate issue is the Japanese invasion and subsequent occupation of China
which lasted until Japan’s surrender in World War II in 1945, and the successive Japanese
governments’ reluctance to admit the country’s wartime past and the atrocities it committed on
the people of China and other Asian countries. (6 July b)

Recapturing the people-to-people and the economic exchange activities between the
two countries, the report maintained that the majority of the Chinese ‘. . . now judge
Japan more objectively . . .’ (6 July b). However, the comparative rhetoric with Japan
was seeded with the country’s sense of superiority – the strong side of Chinese identity.
This was evident in the following discourse that highlighted the contribution of Chinese
civilization to the success of modern Japan:
14 European Journal of Cultural Studies 00(0)

It is ironic, though, that Japan’s source of inspiration in these fields (craftsmanship and
professionalism, citizens’ duties, social governance and organization, and energy saving and
environmental protection) was China during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), and Japan
seamlessly transplanted those ideas and practices into workable reforms that suited its national
conditions during Meiji Restoration in the 1860s. (6 July b)

According to Woods and Dickson (2017: 170), there are two forms of Chinese nation-
alism deriving from the national humiliation: one refers to pride in the motherland,
known as ‘patriotism’, which can be attributed to ‘positive material life experiences’,
and the other is identified as anti-foreign resentment often addressed to Japan. Foreign
governments are increasingly wary of the rise of Chinese nationalism and the implica-
tions for international security (Johnston, 2017). Balancing pro-Japan and anti-Japan
attitudes, as well as differentiating anti-foreign sentiments from patriotic displays trig-
gered by this soccer game, this reporting exemplified Beijing’s capacity to manage the
complex expression of Chinese nationalism, while serving to ease the concern about
Chinese ultra-nationalists. Therefore, this frame aimed to create social unity by utilizing
the superiority aspect of national identity to resonate with domestic audiences.

Discussion and conclusion

In keeping with the critical tradition in nation branding, this study unmasked the ways
that the aims of nation branding were served through the lens of sports, using the case of
China. It probed how the brand of China can be amplified or destroyed via the rise and
decline of Chinese soccer by analyzing the branding texts surrounding the 2018 FIFA
World Cup. As guided by the sports nation branding framework, the research outcomes
revealed that CD concentrated on branding the country through the dimensions of PA and
FA with less attention given to that of the PT, featuring the creation of the self-reflection
frame, the soccer contribution frame, the responsible governance frame, and the local
pride and nationalism frame. These frames revealed multiple aspects of the personalities
of the brand of China, comprising humiliation, world hegemony, trust and superiority. It
demonstrated CD’s deliberate attempt to frame the country’s vision for rising to become
a world soccer power by 2050 as a common goal shared between the state and non-state
actors with the purpose of enhancing ingroup commonalities. Furthermore, a new tradi-
tion in the representation of Chinese identity has emerged, which builds upon the rheto-
ric of a ‘powerful’ nation and social prosperity attributed to the country’s aspirations
toward the global soccer scene. Hence, this article argues that the merit of nation brand-
ing via sports in China is more engaged with the inwardly oriented political exercises,
aiming at restructuring national identity for the purpose of strengthening the state’s legit-
imacy and social cohesion. The trend of Beijing seeking the soccer dream to develop a
government-led participatory approach to promote the social consensus on the state-
defined national identity has been brought to the forefront.
The focus on the domestic implications of nation branding taps into the need to
reduce the enduring sense of uneasiness associated with the Century of Humiliation.
Viewed from a historical perspective, China’s failure to win the war with Japan in 1895
Li and Feng 15

triggered the consensus that triumphs acquired via winning international sports events
allow the country to replace the historical ‘sick man’ image with a great-power image
on the international stage (Xu, 2009). Contemporarily, the revitalization of Chinese
soccer can accelerate the great rejuvenation of the nation based upon enhancing social
cohesion and national pride (National Development and Reform Commission, 2016).4
Furthermore, the education system in China has the convention of the victimization
narrative and the patriotic sentiment seeping into the textbooks (Woods and Dickson,
2017). The interdependence between the above points out that the political and cultural
implication of sports has been inherited and converted to the purposive usage of soccer
to revitalize the nation through implementing the campus soccer scheme. In this
respect, the Chinese leadership’s obsession with this soccer nation branding approach
embodies a strong strategic focus to legitimate internal governance and enhance social
solidarity, and the boom in soccer helps to (re)construct, manifest and earn recognition
for the paradoxical Chinese identity in domestic and international settings. The inward-
looking purpose – nation building – lays out the foundation for China’s nation brand-
ing practice.
Responding to this inwardly oriented nation branding mode, the newly invented tradi-
tion displays the characteristic of crafting the image of a ‘powerful’ nation and utilizing
social prosperity to seed national prestige. On one hand, CD was devoted to displaying
Beijing’s intention of elevating the nation to the role of a global rule setter and regaining
recognition of Chinese civilization through creating the soccer contribution frame and
the local pride and nationalism frame. Linking the country’s accomplishments and tran-
sition to compliance with international standards, with its search for international leader-
ship in soccer and global hegemony, this media outlet indicated the hegemonic aspirations
are achievable. As noted by Liao (2013: 148), the pursuit of a powerful modern state on
the world stage is useful to remove the past-victim ‘self’ and affirm the identity of the
‘ideal’ China. Therefore, this new tradition succeeded in heightening the message of the
country as being ‘powerful’, while overshadowing the self-reflection frame that rested
on a humiliating tone.
On the other hand, the country’s endeavor to acquire world soccer success is envi-
sioned in multifarious aspects. CD utilized the power of positive storytelling from the
accomplished grassroots individuals, private businesses and corporate giants to speak for
the brand of China. The engagement of non-state actors with the political life of a state
makes a contribution to the ‘informal loci of identity building’ (Polese et al., 2020: 27),
and greater prosperity may shore up popular support for the CCP’s regime (Woods and
Dickson, 2017). Viewed in this light, these non-state groups play the role of the brand
ambassadors of China, and the materialistic opportunities promised to them allow the
soccer vision to be internalized within the Chinese population. The outcome of that tends
to strike a new wave of benign nationalism. Nevertheless, nationalism is ‘a double-edged
sword’ and ‘can turn against the government, if the state appears weak or willing to com-
promise with foreign countries’ (Woods and Dickson, 2017: 171). Thus, the concentra-
tion on communicating a ‘powerful’ nation becomes more salient than being ‘responsible’
in nurturing a sense of national identity and securing the CCP’s governance. However,
the avoidance of overplaying this nationalism card is essential, as it can lead to a malign
form of nationalism.
16 European Journal of Cultural Studies 00(0)

Despite the emerging tradition penetrated by the hegemonic discourse, the victimiza-
tion narrative has not vanished from the branding discourse of China. Nation branding
requires the deployment of a country’s historical and cultural heritage to forge an emo-
tional tie with domestic citizens (Jansen, 2008: 133). It forms the basis of the compo-
nents to shape the commonalities in the construction of national identity (Anderson,
1991; Smith, 1998). CD’s constant contrast with Japan, Russia and the United States
reveals the historical roots of the Century of Humiliation, which is treated as ‘a histori-
cally informed and culturally sensitive component of the Chinese identity politics’, and
has evolved as the social practice of the country’s striving for national rejuvenation
(Liao, 2013: 156). This meaning-making process based upon reviving the public mem-
ory of national trauma to distinguish China from the ‘Other’ in conjunction with the
projected common goal of boosting the world soccer ranking continues to play a vital
role in enlivening Chinese nationalism through a myriad of soccer activities.
Furthermore, this sports nation branding approach points to the importance of devel-
oping the PT, while enriching the PA and the FA dimension of a nation’s brand. The
multiplicity of government-led soccer programs enact the measurable objectives in
developing physical and human infrastructure (PA) and in enhancing local people’s life-
style (FA).5 In contrast, the cultivation of Chinese soccer culture is defined as the promo-
tion of Chinese civilization, accompanied by healthy lifestyle, happiness, the spirit of
fighting and endurance, solidity, accountability, collective glory, national pride, and
dedication (National Development and Reform Commission, 2016). The core values for
the game of international soccer as discussed need more exploration. Moreover, soccer
in schools is viewed as a government-driven campaign, leading to ‘formalism’ and not
having ‘a world beating sports ethos’ (Zuo, 2019). This implies the difficulty of this
brand’s PT being sustainable and explains the obscure nature of the brand meaning,
which is being responsible.
In China’s case, to forge a thriving soccer culture retaining some degree of indigenous
uniqueness while adopting a key set of international soccer codes becomes critical. The
advantage of that allows this brand to bond with the global community, easing interna-
tional uncertainties about the emergence of Chinese soccer. It enables the consistency of
brand meaning to be maintained with the reliance on the Olympics in exhibiting the
country’s adherence to international values (e.g. Olympic Spirit, innovation and interna-
tional cooperation) (Li, 2017). This value-shaping process can add credit to the ‘respon-
sible’ attribute that can be translated into Beijing’s soft power capacity. In this sense,
interaction rather than tension between the dual aims of nation branding is able to occur.
The above discussion presents the response to RQ3.
Through critical examination of the ways Beijing brands itself via the use of soccer at
a time when soccer in East Asia is growing in importance, this study sheds light on the
overall government-led nation branding mode in this region. National identity makers
are composed by ‘actors other than the state’ (Polese et al., 2020: 27), and the success of
nation branding relies on the collaboration among government and non-governmental
actors, including ‘the people of a nation’ (Kahraman, 2016: 98). Therefore, how to
engage non-governmental actors in nation branding practice, especially through soccer
culture, is one of the main research areas employing critical approaches. Future empiri-
cal research in the use of this sports nation branding framework from the perspective of
Li and Feng 17

registered brands would present a comprehensive view of nation branding and the impli-
cation for geographical economy, politics and culture.

Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this
article.

ORCID iDs
Xiufang (Leah) Li https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6404-5916
Juan Feng https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3229-5582

Notes
1. The media gives extensive coverage to sports mega-events prior to the opening ceremony
and reduces the coverage when the event finishes. The research time frame took place 14
days prior to the start of the 2018 FIFA World cup and 1 day after it ended. China Daily
(CD) is positioned as an authoritative provider of content for global readers with a special
focus on China (CD, 2019), and the stories hint at Beijing’s stand on branding the country.
Furthermore, Beijing has launched several soccer schemes between 2015 and 2017, including
The Overall Chinese Soccer Reform and Development Program, The Medium and Long-Term
Development Plan of Chinese Soccer (2016–2050) (MLTDPCS), The 13th Five-Year Plan
for the Development of Sports Industry, The National Construction Plan for Soccer Pitches
and Facilities (2016–2020) and The Chinese Soccer Association 2020 Action Plan. Thus, the
2018 FIFA World Cup provided China with an arena to communicate its brand. A total of 169
articles were selected for the analysis.
2. The intercoder reliability was 0.85 using the Holsti’s formula.
3. Nation building refers to the efforts by a regime developing ‘all the aspects of political, social,
and economic systems of a society’ (Daniel, 2010: 414).
4. National rejuvenation means enacting and enforcing strategies and policies that enable China to
be ‘modern, prosperous, politically stable, (and) powerful’ by 2049 (Heath, 2014: 5).
5. For instance, the The Medium and Long-Term Development Plan of Chinese Soccer (2016–
2050) (MLTDPCS) states that China aims to ‘become one of Asia’s best teams by 2030’,
‘have 50 million soccer players . . . by 2020’, ‘build at least 20,000 soccer training centers
and 70,000 pitches . . . by 2020’ and ensure ‘one soccer pitch for every 10,000 people by
2030’ (Durnin and Qi, cited in Li, 2020: 113).

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Biographical notes
Xiufang (Leah) Li is a lecturer and former program manager in the School of Media and
Communication at RMIT University in Australia. Prior to her current position, Leah worked at
different universities in Australia and China, including Macquarie University and as an Associate
Professor at Guangzhou University. She teaches, undertakes research, and supervises PhD students
Li and Feng 21

in the areas of public relations, digital communication, branding, journalism, and media. Leah
holds a PhD degree in International Communication and Media awarded at Macquarie University.
Juan Feng is a Ph.D. candidate studying at the School of Media and Communication, RMIT
University. Her research interests include nation branding, place branding, sports communication,
tourism and public relations.