By Wang Fengjuan

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Chinese Films and TV Shows Introduced to Southeast Asia

By Wang Fengjuan

The Beijing TV Program Fair Spring 2014 in Beijing on March 31， 2014. Over 300 domestic and foreign film and TV program producers with over 10，000 episodes of TV serials， documentaries and cartoons exchanged information and made transactions

The most popular 2015 Chinese costume production Nirvana in Fire will be broadcast overseas. According to its producer，it has received a large number of orders from foreign countries including Singapore and Malaysia.

With much higher quality， more and more Chinese TV plays are going global，and many of them have become much-discussed events overseas and even set off a“Chinese wind” blowing through ASEAN countries.

Chinese Stories for ASEAN Audience

Recently， the Thai-version of the Chinese youth inspirational serial Beijing Youth dubbed by the China Guangxi Television， introduced by Rise Culture and Communication of Thailand， and broadcast on Thai TV 9 （Mass Communications Organization of Thailand）， becoming the first Chinese modern urban TV serial broadcast by a mainstream thai TV channel.

Sivaporn Chomsuwa， head of the Thai TV 9， said it enjoyed great popularity as it was suitable for family members to watch together， and helped thai audience to understand the life of Chinese youth. Besides attracting large numbers of thai fans， it has also enriched Sino-thai cultural exchanges and cooperation.

Korn Dabbaransi， Chairman of the Thai-Chinese Friendship Association，believes the introduction of made-for-television works is an important part of cultural promotion and expressed his hope to introduce high-quality thai TV plays to China in the future.

Poster of Chinese costume pieces Nirvana in Fire & Legend of Zhen Huan

The launching ceremony and press conference for the broadcasting of the Thai-version serial Beijing Youth dubbed by the China Guangxi Television， which would be broadcast at the Thai TV 9

The year 2015 marked the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Vietnam. Just two days before President Xi Jinping's visit there in November 2015， the Vietnam Television began to broadcast Beijing Youth as well. Over 50 Vietnamese participated in the translation and dubbing work，including Vietnamese movie and TV stars，presenters and students studying in China.

Myanmar， the Philippines， Vietnam，Thailand and other ASEAN countries have always been major buyers of Chinese TV programs， but recent years have seen changes in the types that are popular in Southeast Asia. While the costume pieces are always popular， modern urban plays also enjoy high popularity among the ASEAN audiences now. Many people warmly exchanged views on on-line forums ather viewing.

‘Screen Ambassadors'

Chinese film and TV works are certainly good windows to understand Chinese culture and national image. Indeed， a good TV series might play a more obvious，profound and lasting role than any construction project. thanks to the translation project of modern works， Chinese stories are breaking the language bottleneck to go global to expound the Chinese dream to the whole world.

The Turbulence of the Mu Clan， a panoramic depiction of the traditional culture and local conditions and customs of the Naxi ethnic group in Yunnan， southern China， was broadcast by Myanmar Television. The ups and downs of the Mu clan and excellent performance of the actors quickly established its popularity.

It was also broadcast to much acclaim in Singapore， Malaysia， thailand and Laos and other ASEAN countries. The series even became a state gift presented by Chinese leaders to their Lao counterparts during their visit to Laos.

Jiang Xiaorong， General Producer of The Turbulence of the Mu Clan， said：“The more national， the more global. The Turbulence of the Mu Clan， with a background of Chinese ethnic culture， has achieved its international expression， a successful attempt for Chinese TV productions to go global.”

As exhibited by The Legend of Zhen Huan， Nirvana in Fire， Beijing Youth，Beautiful Daughter-in-Law and The Turbulence of the Mu Clan， more and more Chinese TV programs are going global. At the same time， Chinese film and TV stars such as Nicholas Wu， Liu Shishi and Sun Li have gained lots of fans in Southeast Asia.

Ma Runsheng， President of the China Radio， Film and Television Programs Exchanging Center， said： “As more and more Chinese films and TV programs have been broadcast in various countries， including those along the ‘Belt and Road'，Chinese stories are rapidly going global to help foreign people understand China.”

New Cooperation Model

With the increasingly close cooperation in dubbing of films and TV plays in recent years， media in Guangxi and other localities have actively carried out exchanges and cooperation with the radio and TV stations of ASEAN countries to build a multi-level communication platform.

The Guangxi People's Broadcasting Station and Television Khmer of Cambodia formally signed a cooperation agreement on Chinese Theater in August 2014.

The Cambodian version of the cartoon Bao Dada： the Cat Eye Boy dubbed by the Guangxi People's Broadcasting Station is the first Chinese cartoon broadcast by Television Khmer. the Chinese films and TV works of Cambodian version broadcast via the Chinese Theater in the past year have been highly recognized in terms of plot， dubbing quality and performance of actors.

“The Chinese Theater has been widely acclaimed in Cambodia， which is of milestone significance in the cultural exchanges between Cambodia and China and also gives rise to a new model of in-depth cooperation between the media of the two countries，” said Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith.

Cheng Hongbo， Director of the Political Department of Chinese Embassy in Cambodia，said the aim of broadcasting Chinese film and TV works via the Chinese theater is to present various aspects of Chinese history， culture and economic development as well as the friendly exchanges between China and Cambodia， and further deepen mutual understanding between the two peoples.

Meanwhile， Li Degang， Head of Guangxi Television， pledged： “Guangxi Television will further deepen China-ASEAN media cooperation by establishing a Southeast Asia Multimedia Dubbing and Communication Center and ASEAN Workstation to promote bilateral traditional friendship.”

Guangxi Television has also jointly run Chinese theater on Lao National Television，and about 100 episodes have been broadcast in Cambodia and Laos so far.