The face of public diplomacy

Zhao Qizheng's latest book, Public Diplomacy in World Business, is a manual for companies that target the global market. Zou Hong/China Daily

Zhao Qizheng says when Chinese business people operate in the international marketplace, they are representing not only their company, but also their country. Chen Yingqun and Jiao Xiaoli report.

Many Chinese companies dismally fail the test of diplomacy when they go abroad, says Zhao Qizheng, former chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and former minister of the State Council Information Office. Not only do they act clumsily, but they also have little understanding of the concept of public diplomacy, says Zhao, who is widely regarded as a pioneer in Chinese public diplomacy.

"We've done research on Chinese companies going overseas and found that many businessmen are good at talking business, but not at social dialogue," Zhao says.

Chinese businesses often operate overseas exactly as they do in China, overlooking cultural differences, which can cause problems, he says.

Definitions of the term public diplomacy are many and varied, but for Zhao, it means helping the rest of the world at all levels, including individuals and business, understand the country.

Zhao, author of Public Diplomacy in World Business, a manual for companies that do business overseas, or aim to do so, says that after decades of rapid development, Chinese companies are perfectly placed to target global markets and overseas investment is going to surge.

"China's GDP accounts for about 10 percent of world GDP, and its direct overseas investment accounts for about 3.2 percent of the world's, a gap that represents great potential for Chinese companies to go global," Zhao said at a recent forum in Beijing on public diplomacy.

In 2013, China's outbound direct investment increased by 16.8 percent to $90.17 billion, according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

Against that background, Chinese entrepreneurs have become important torchbearers in the world of public diplomacy, and it is crucial they equip themselves with the skills that public diplomacy demands, says Zhao, who, as the minister of the State Council Information Office between 1998 and 2005, helped refine the government news-release system.