Animated videos and catchy songs about the G20 summit are trending on China's social media, illustrating netizens' unexpected enthusiasm for the unorthodox methods the Chinese government has used to promote the meeting.[Special Coverage]
In an animated music video produced by the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) and published on its official Sina Weibo account on Thursday, two girls wearing traditional Chinese clothes travel to Hangzhou--the G20 summit's host city - by bus, lauding the city's beautiful scenery and the great preparations made for the summit, including strict security measures.
The video has been viewed more than 30,000 times on CYLC's official WeChat account as of press time.
China Network Television (CNTV) also published a short animated film on Friday to introduce the history and function of the G20 summit.
The two-minute video, entitled Hangzhou: Out on the Road, depicts the 20 countries as cartoon heroes who fight together against the global financial crisis.
"When the financial crisis swept the global economies…no single country was able to fight the crisis alone," a narrator says at the beginning of the video. The role of the G20 then expanded to form a "de facto super alliance" whose "efforts doubled the effect, and the economy recovered," the narrator explains as the 20 "heroes" stand hand in hand.
Chinese netizens reacted with amusement to the video's spread on social media, saying it did not look like the staid State-owned television programming they were familiar with. While official statements used to come in the form of staid announcements, state organs and media have been turning to rap music and cartoons to spread their message more broadly.
