In the last two decades, China has extensively used its cultural diplomacy to leverage its global influence to change perceptions about China globally. In this regard, the Confucius Institutes played a vital role by pushing the Chinese language and diverse Chinese culture through different cultural exchange programs. However, this cultural diplomacy failed to produce desired outcomes, mainly due to the limited appeal and audience, intangible benefits, institutional resistance in lieu of propaganda, and many more. This failure has compelled China to change its strategy for achieving the desired results. The following analysis highlights how and why China is pivoting more towards tech diplomacy as a soft power means to leverage its influence globally to change worldwide perception about China.
The term “tech diplomacy” can be defined as “a nation engaging with technological stakeholders of other nations for diplomatic objectives,” where technology and tech companies act as agents of influence in this whole process. This new approach of tech diplomacy has the potential to bring about multiple prospects for China, including reinforcing its diplomatic leverage and even forming new coalitions based on the tech agenda. This could serve as both a stabilizer and an influence point in great power relations, as it would enable China to foster alternative technology ecosystems parallel to what the West is offering to developing countries, particularly in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. This tech diplomacy might help China to shape international technical norms and strengthen the roots of the Chinese model into global frameworks; however, the question that arises here is whether China and its technology are capable enough to harness all the above-mentioned prospects.
There was a time when China was primarily known for replicating the technology developed by the West, producing cheap copies, and often facing criticism for intellectual property theft. However, over the past decade, China has made remarkable technological advancements across various fields, including artificial intelligence, robotics, space exploration, electric vehicles, and renewable energy.
With 2.43% of the whole Gross Domestic Product (GDP) spent on research and development (R&D), China is 11th in the Global Innovation Index, surpassing France and Japan. China is also at the top of the list of upper-middle-income countries, making progress in the field of science and technology. China leads the world with 26 science and technology clusters, outpacing the United States (US). Notable Chinese clusters include Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou (2nd globally), Beijing (3rd), Shanghai-Suzhou (5th), and Nanjing (9th). In 2023, China filed the most patent applications globally, with 1.68 million applications received by the National Intellectual Property Administration of the People’s Republic of China (CNIPA). According to the Emerging Technology Observatory, between 2017 and 2021, China surpassed the US in AI research publications, with 25% of the research authored by Chinese nationals, while 18% was authored by US authors.
After years of R&D, the mastering and eventual deployment of technologies, such as 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), big data, cloud computing, and blockchain, through mutual support between government and the private sector, has propelled China forward in digital transformation. On the industry level, Chinese mobile companies are also advancing towards the production of 4nm processors locally, removing the dependencies on foreign chip-making companies. The existing capability to scale the business can soon turn China into a tech giant of the century. On the industry level, the BYD car produced by China is giving tough competition to the American Tesla in most of the benchmarks, if not bypassing it. Mobile applications like WeChat, Alipay, TikTok, and Rednote (Xiaohongshu) have gained the Western audience even after facing censorship across different countries. In the domain of health sciences, the use of robotics has pushed China much forward.In the defense sector, Chinese-made defense equipment has gained recognition, especially after the Pakistan-India four-day crisis.
On the national level, China has initiated many initiatives employing homegrown technologies. The Smart City Initiative, being used to provide a platform for digital governance, is helping in smartly addressing challenges like traffic congestion, pollution, and public safety. Huawei and Xiaomi have taken the lead in producing the digital infrastructure for this initiative.
On the global front, the “Digital Silk Road” initiative is an example of this Chinese form of tech diplomacy. The Digital Silk Road, aimed at enhancing digital connectivity using the latest 5G high-bandwidth, low-latency mobile and satellite technology, is encouraging African and ASEAN countries for technological cooperation. The China-ASEAN Digital Economy Partnership and the China-SCO forum on the digital economy industry are some other examples of tech diplomacy deepening cooperation on digital technologies, showing China’s intention to expand collaboration to areas such as AI, 5G, and smart cities.The Global AI Governance Initiative (GAIGI) proposed by China is yet another example of China’s tech diplomacy. It is an official proposal for shaping international rules and norms around artificial intelligence.
Originally, the advancement in technology was intended to enhance the independence, autonomy, and security of China’s development.However, these advancements have reached a level where they have enabled China to communicate its ideas, vision, and solutions to the international community: tech diplomacy. This approach of tech diplomacy is now positioning China to wield influence in ways that traditional cultural diplomacy could not achieve. It is more effective, as it has the potential to target both developed nations and lower-income countries seeking to leverage technology to rapidly facilitate economic growth and opportunities for their citizens.
While Chinese technology continues to gain acceptance among global audiences, the true test of China’s tech diplomacy lies not in consumer adoption but in its ability to reshape the international order itself. The real measure of China’s tech diplomatic success will be whether initiatives like the Digital Silk Road and the GAIGI can gain meaningful international acceptance and rival Western-dominated frameworks. Can China translate its technological capabilities into genuine norm-setting power? The answer will determine whether tech diplomacy merely provides China with economic influence or enables it to challenge and reshape the global governance structures that have long been Western-led.
