NEW YORK, February 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the Chinese community "Hall of Fame" website Hua Shang Tao Lue, a whirlwind of Chinese companies will make their presence felt in New York's Times Square during the 2016 Chinese New Year. In an unprecedented move, 100 Chinese companies, on behalf of the Chinese business community, will invite people from around the world to celebrate Chinese New Year together and experience China's most important traditional holiday and to gain a better understanding of Chinese culture, while showcasing their brands on the huge screens overlooking the world-famous square.
New York's Times Square, located at the heart of Manhattan, is the world's most bustling entertainment and shopping center. Brightly adorned with immense outdoor screens and serving as the world's venue for competition between the top international brands, Times Square is also known as the "Crossroads of the World" and a must-see stop for any tourist visiting the city.
The Chinese government ran a series of short films promoting the country during President Hu Jintao's state visit to the United States on the same screens in 2011, bringing much attention to China from the four corners of the globe. The collective effort in Times Square by the 100 Chinese companies, especially their campaign to expand the Chinese New Year into an event that is celebrated by the world over, will go a long way in focusing the world's attention on and sparking a global debate about the efforts undertaken by Chinese companies who plan to go global and China's cultural exports amid the rise of the country.
A Chinese New Year holiday that is celebrated all around the world
Chinese New Year, a holiday laden with Oriental traditions, has always been considered a national holiday strictly for the Chinese. In recent years, the Secretary General of the United Nations, the President of the United States and other international dignitaries have issued public statements to Chinese people around the world wishing them the best for the New Year, and, sometimes, they have even added a few auspicious words in Chinese. However, so far, these messages and best wishes have only been extended to the Chinese.
The 100 Chinese companies plan to break with convention and celebrate New Year in an extraordinary manner: they will go abroad and invite the world to celebrate Chinese New Year together. This will change the thousands of years of history during which Chinese New Year only belonged to the Chinese, and, in doing so, become a milestone in Chinese and western cultural exchanges and integration, an event that is expected to be written into the annals of history.
Notably, among the 100 Chinese companies are many rising stars that are seeking to embrace the world, in addition to world-class giants such as Hainan Airlines, Greenland Group, TCL and Geely Automobile, demonstrating the overall confidence that Chinese companies have in integrating into and serving the world.
The 100 Chinese companies: Greenland Group, Hainan Airlines, TCL, Mengniu Dairy, De Rucci, Changhong Electric, Geely Automobile, Gree, Xiamen Airlines, AUX Group, Chando Shanghai, Sanyuan Group, New Hope Dairy, Panpan Foods, Reward Group, Everest Foods, Yashili Group, Lolo Enterprise Group, Guanzhu Ceramics, Skyworth, MALLGO, Lilanz, BYBO Dental Group, Blue Moon Industry, Giuseppe Garment, Baodao Optical, Yurun Food Group, Hanhoo, CYSQ Global, Gold Spoon Camellia Oil Technology, LBSTEK Inc, OSM, Boncham International, T-Financial, Good Family, Shuangwa Dairy, Essence of Fruits, Be & Cheery, Jianfa, Ease E-commerce, Mlily, Citysuit, Yidai Foods, Carrefor Daily Necessities, Jolly Cup Forest Savior, Xinjiang Qianhai Group, Bestore, D.Phone, Yizumi Precision Machinery, Totole Food, Gong Cha, Dr. Plant, Ankai Automobile, Choiskycn Bio-tech, Huakang Pharmaceutical, Ever Fountain Financial Group, Cheungyuan Holdings, RJS Investment, Qdsuh, Luxi Chemical, Rosery Sanitary Ware, Three Squirrels, Wuzhou State-Capital Holding, Emoney, Aris, Eptison, Swanrove Wedding Photo, Oats House National, L-somewhere, Lianda Gene, Dahong, Kind, Xianrenzhang, Weis Chinese Medicine Group, Chong Qing Qing Da Industrial, Sungrow Power Supply, Car King China Used Car Trading, GTRiches, Grandland Intelligent Technology, Wuzhizhou Island, Sengled Optoelectronics, Ming Innovator Business Center, Jmyida, Goldone Jewelry, Y.S.G Auto Glass, Shengrui Transmission, Honey-Lovely, Ganen Car Appliance, Baijia Lake, Normal Teck Furniture, Fuzhong Group, Yunjiweidian, A Home Furniture, Yogomo, Babytree, TuanDai Networks, ZCMall, Desay SV Automotive, Chuchujie and Niu Technology.
The essence is commercial and cultural export
National holidays are an important medium for the promotion of national cultures and a major event that can have a vast effect on business. Western holidays such as Christmas, Valentine's Day and even Easter have long had an active presence in China and already become a part of the annual holiday regimen, which has led to a large number of western cultural icons and commodities having been exported to China. However, China's important holidays with a long cultural heritage including Chinese New Year still only belong to the Chinese. This imbalance is becoming ever more evident with the close relationship and cultural integration between eastern and western countries today, and is even having a negative impact on the globalization of Chinese businesses.
The economic development since China's reform and opening-up has laid a foundation for the prosperity and globalization of Chinese culture. China's economy now needs to further enhance its value proposition and unique qualities through its culture. As a result, Hua Shang Tao Lue Beijing International Culture Media Center has organized a series of large-scale communication events themed "Let the World Appreciate China", which are designed to bring together China's business community and to give the world an opportunity to appreciate the distinct and unique value of Chinese business and culture and promote both through collaborative efforts on the world stage. The collective show being put on by these 100 Chinese companies in New York's Times Square wishing the world the best for this year's Chinese New Year is one of the key projects.
"A weak level of influence and lack of awareness of Chinese culture around the world is unfavorable to China's economy, culture and global presence. Promotion of Chinese culture, for the most part, was funded by the government. Even if the promotional efforts could be sustained, they have been relatively limited. Our innovation is to combine the commercial activity of brand communication by Chinese companies with the exchange and promotion of Chinese culture in a move to achieve a synergy and create a virtuous cycle", said a spokesperson for Hua Shang Tao Lue Beijing International Culture Media Center. The model will enhance corporate messaging with cultural input so that the communication, rather than being simply education-oriented, becomes more acceptable to and sustainable among the public.
The reason the event received such a warm response from companies that wanted to participate, and that the companies did so within such a short time, is attributable to the combination of the opportunity to have the awareness of their brand enhanced while being able to do their bit to promote Chinese culture.
The spokesperson added: "Xenocentrism has been commonplace in Chinese culture for years while public confidence in China's culture, companies and products is not strong. Our companies and products have been relatively inferior to those of their overseas peers, and, even more importantly, market penetration by foreign companies in China has been too powerful. Chinese companies are one of the biggest victims. For these reasons, Chinese companies responded strongly and with confidence when they were told that we will launch a counterattack to say goodbye to xenocentrism."
A roster of extraordinary companies
The 100 Chinese companies include global leaders and transformers, such as Hainan Airlines, Greenland Gorup, TCL and Gree, as well as local name brands, including Mengniu Dairy, Lilanz, Chando Shanghai, Good Family, Everest Foods, Shuangwa Dairy, Reward Group, OSM, Gold Spoon Camellia Oil Technology, Ganen Car Appliance and Ease E-commerce. There is an obvious feature in common shared by these 100 Chinese companies: they are all representatives and pioneers in their regions and industries.
The Hua Shang Tao Lue spokesperson added by way of explanation, "Whether we admit it or not, these companies can represent China when they take their turn on the stage. When selecting which companies would participate, we reviewed their qualifications, focusing on their ability to be representative as well as the quality of their leadership, rather than their size and wealth. No company was allowed to enter the list simply as the result of a monetary contribution."
Furthermore, many of the companies are "old friends" of New York's Times Square. Greenland Group, Lilanz, TCL and Gree have hosted their own promotional events in the world-famous square before and participated in the Hua Shang Tao Lue's first project "Showing China to the World" when 66 brands celebrated China's National Day there. The spokesperson for Lilanz commented, "This is an especially good way for Chinese companies to showcase their brands and cultural image. We signed up to participate in the event immediately. We flexed our muscles at the last campaign when we celebrated National Day and plan to show our 'smile' at this New Year's event."
On January 29th, the 100 Chinese Companies' New Year's event was pre-broadcast at New York's Times Square. The red-festooned images that rolled across the screen and the promotional stills drew the attention of many passers-by. Over 200 mainstream media organizations, from China and elsewhere, are expected to cover the spectacular event, with the anticipation that the event will presage future celebrations of Chinese New Year among all peoples the world over.
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160202/328535
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