China's Soft Power Is Charming

Today, we're looking at a quiet but powerful shift happening right now—how China is making bigger economic and cultural waves around the world, and why we should care. The numbers are clear: China is the only nation in the top 10 of Brand Finance's Global Soft Power Index to see its score rise this year . From blockbuster video games like *Black Myth: Wukong* and global brands like Shein, to AI platforms like DeepSeek, Chinese culture and tech are winning global attention . But here's what's often missed. This isn't just about China's rise—it's about the West's retreat. Western aid cuts and policies are leaving a gap in the Global South, from Africa to Southeast Asia . As one analysis put it, these policy decisions are "contributing to greater Chinese influence" . We need to ask: is the West losing the global south not because of what China is doing, but because of what the West has stopped doing? Guest Info: Dr. Marcus Vinicius De Freitas is a Visiting Professor at the China Foreign Affairs University (Beijing), a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South (Rabat), and a former Visiting Fellow of Practice at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. He holds degrees from the University of São Paulo, Cornell Law School, and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His research focuses on international political economy, China–Global South relations, strategic competition, digital sovereignty, and global governance. A frequent contributor to international newspapers, policy journals, and academic forums, his work examines the structural transformations shaping the transition towards a multipolar international order.