mk 2024 Family of the Maritime Silk Road ASEAN online celebrity conference is held at Haikou, South China's Hainan Province on December 12, 2024. Photo: FMSR" src="https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2024/2024-12-13/c4f10232-255f-4613-a606-1d39bacb14e8.jpeg" />

The 2024 "Family of the Maritime Silk Road" ASEAN online celebrity conference is held at Haikou, South China's Hainan Province on December 12, 2024. Photo: FMSR

As part of the ASEAN-China Year of People-to-People Exchanges, the 2024 "Family of the Maritime Silk Road" ASEAN online celebrity conference was held in Haikou, South China's Hainan Province, on Thursday. Internet celebrities from 10 ASEAN countries with a total of nearly 100 million followers participated in the conference. They shared personal stories and experiences in China through self-made videos, fostering friendly exchanges and solidarity between China and ASEAN. 

From interviews with several internet celebrities from ASEAN, reporters from the Global Times explored their perspectives on China, their personal stories, and the benefits of China-ASEAN cooperation.

Seeing is believing

“I was a little worried before I came to China, as a foreigner, I was afraid that there would be much restriction or I would be excluded. But after I came here, I realized that China is indeed very inclusive,” Han Bing, a Thai influencer who previously studied at Nanjing University, told the Global Times on Thursday. Han believes that China's inclusiveness demonstrates a mentality that only comes from a major country, which gives him the freedom to express himself and pursue his dreams in China.

A Singapore-based internet celebrity, Shantay, visited China for the first time in 2018, “Before that I had only heard that Shanghai was highly developed, but when I was physically arriving, I was stunned,” Shantay said. “At that time, while most of the world remained cash-paying, Shanghai was already almost completely transformed into a cashless payment city, leaving me with the impression that China was more advanced than I had imagined.” Shantay added.

Una is an internet celebrity from Indonesia with about 21 million followers, and the conference marked her first visit to China. Una told the Global Times that before she came to China, many of her followers asked her why she was visiting China and what she expected, “We never know if we never try,” Una replied. Now Una can't wait to update her social media platforms and update her followers and those who don't understand why she visited China about how wonderful and picturesque Haikou is.

China in Their Eyes

When the Global Times asked Shantay to describe China in one word, she chose “powerful.” “Power comes from growth and innovation, and China has improved tremendously over the last 10 year. It really taking the world by stun,” said Shantay. 

Echoing Shantay, Una also described China as a “powerful” country, which everyone would like to pay attention to. “China holds unique and magical characteristics, and in Indonesia, if someone says they are in China, we will know that he or she is going to be successful in China soon,” Una told GT.

“The whole world is speaking Chinese” is a lyric from the famous Chinese girl group “SHE,” which Shantay used to describe China. Shantay said in Singapore nowadays children are learning English and Chinese, and she feels that Chinese is increasingly popular worldwide because the influence of Chinese culture is growing. “The next line of the lyrics is ‘the words spoken by Chinese people will make the world listen carefully,’ and I am confident that it will be achieved in the future as well,” Shantay said.

The Best of Both Sides

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, noted in July’s ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers' Meeting that China and ASEAN, who are friendly neighbors and close partners, have seen the building of a China-ASEAN community with a shared future being steady and fruitful, benefiting 2 billion people on the two sides while greatly promoting common development, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Han said that for him, the greatest benefit of China-ASEAN cooperation is the visa-free policy between China and Thailand. The visa waiver has made it easier for people to travel between the two countries, said Han, which has also boosted personal exchanges between both countries.

Vietnam, another socialist neighbor, shares cultural and social affinities with China. Last year, the two countries announced the building of a China-Vietnam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance, ushering in a new stage in their ties, according to Xinhua.

For her part, Bella, an internet celebrity from Vietnam, said she has benefited considerably from the cooperation between China and Vietnam in the field of education. “Studying in China will bring a lot of opportunities; it is the cooperation between countries that makes educational exchanges possible.”

“For a travel-orientated online celebrity, I have enjoyed the most from the cooperation between China and Russia including visa convenience and increases in flights, allowing me to travel to and from China very smoothly,” a Russian influencer, Cody Miller, told the Global Times.

Shi Zhongjun, secretary-general of the ASEAN-China Centre, said on Thursday that internet celebrities can become ambassadors of goodwill to present the real story of win-win cooperation between ASEAN and China to the international community, while gathering positive energy for regional development, to convey to the world the confidence of ASEAN and China in cooperation and development in a truthful, accurate and comprehensive manner.

Talking about how to promote people-to-people exchanges with her role as an internet celebrity, Shantay expressed her interest in trying on traditional Chinese dresses, like cheongsams and Tang suits, noting these would help her fans better appreciate classical Chinese culture around the world. Bella said that the exchanges between people are a vital approach to enhance relations between citizens. She will post more videos of her travels in China on social media in the future, showing more people the beauty and delicacies of China and the hospitality of the Chinese people. Miller, meanwhile, said he would introduce more of what China is doing to protect the environment in his videos, bringing more people to know about China's vision and its contributions.