China using sport as soft power

China's pledge to steer the international community toward a more interconnected and inclusive world economy at this month's G20 meeting in Hangzhou comes at a time rife with anti-globalization sentiment.

A brutal, anti-immigration presidential campaign waged by the US Republican Party is underway, as is, supposedly, the splintering of Britain from the European Union.

One event this summer has, however, offered a brief respite from the gloom – the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Having weathered a maelstrom of negative media coverage in the lead up to the competition, the Games themselves have showcased some thrilling talent from all corners of the globe and offered up a volley of new world records.

China has long understood the power of sport to unify. From ping-pong diplomacy to the Beijing Olympics in 2008, China has used sport to articulate its merits to the world, according to Professor Donna Lee, dean of social sciences at the University of Bradford.

"At its Olympics, China was able to say we share your values," says Lee, who co-authored a paper on sports mega-events and emerging states for the Global Society journal. "We want to show you how we can be part of a global community – rather than China being an outlying player, which most people prior to the Olympics would have considered it, a country they didn't know much about."

Investment in European football and a huge drive to develop the game at home shows China's commitment to the use of sport as diplomacy. The desire to host a World Cup, which typically involves a viewership of several billion, is central to this push.

"They are using sport as a soft power in a clever and professional manner," says Alberto Bichi, secretary general of the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry. "They are using sport as a window for knowledge. It is partly thanks to sport that the world is opening up to China and China is opening up to the world."

Bichi says the sports industry – which in the EU contributes 294 billion euros ($327 billion), close to 3 percent, of total Gross Value Added, as well as 2.1 percent of the EU workforce – should be targeted for development and investment given that it improves other sectors horizontally.

"Sports is a unique sector as it interacts with the economy, with social, cultural and educational concerns and matters related to health and prevention," he says. "It's extremely important that the G20 leaders concentrate on the sports sector."

Aedan Mordecai, senior analyst at think tank Centre for Multilateralism Studies in Singapore, says that China's plans for football and to create a domestic sports economy worth $850 billion by 2025 are ambitious and display a confidence in the ability of sports to connect China with the global community.

"The G20 in China is a good chance for leaders to focus on unifying aspects of society, especially at a time when we are looking at a pushback of globalization, toward a more close-minded politics. You're seeing Donald Trump, you're seeing Brexit, you're seeing the backlash against globalization, and sport is a way to counter that.

"With the Olympics you are seeing countries coming together and displaying the values that we share, rather than the ways we are different, and I think the leaders of the G20 will also be aware of that. I think China at the G20 will be hoping to bring back some sort of stability," adds Mordecai.