MERICS Web Special (July 2015)
by Karsten Luc
MERICS Web Special (July 2015)
Mesut Özil. Merkel. Made in Germany – Germany images in China’s
social media
By Karsten Luc
Introduction
China's social media can be quite influential: they can make a car brand a household name
throughout the country. During a dating show a young man described to a female contestant
his ideas of a romantic date. He concluded with the question "Would you like to take a seat on
my bicycle rack and set off joyfully with me?" Subsequently she replied: "I would rather sit
crying on the backseat of a BMW." With the idiom "I'd rather cry in a BMW than laugh on a
bicycle" the netizens provoked a fierce debate about materialism and the decline in values. An
interesting aspect to this is that a German car brand was the first thing the participant thought
of as representative for a nice prosperous life.
This web special takes a closer look at Germany’s images in China's social media. Which
topics get the most clicks, views and comments? Which Germans are represented in the social
media and who has the most fans? What do China's netizens admire about Germany and what
appears strange to them?
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MERICS Web Special (July 2015)
by Karsten Luc
Subject of this web special is a (quantitative and qualitative) analysis of
Germany-relevant content on Sina Weibo, WeChat and Youku in the
period between May 2014 and May 2015.
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Weibo ( 微博 ) is a Twitter like micro blog service with currently 198
million active users per month.
WeChat (微信) has been exclusively developed for smartphones. It is
similar to the well-known western application WhatsApp and with its
multifunctional nature it is linked to many web services in China. At the
moment WeChat has 549 million active users per month.
The free video streaming service Youku (优酷) is regarded as the
Chinese equivalent to YouTube.
Many landscape photos, holiday photos, product information and so called "Foodies"
with country hashtags
Number of hashtag mentions of Germany and other countries on Weibo
The nation ranking compiled based on analysed Weibo data shows Germany ranking fourth
position (measured against the frequency of #Hashtag#-mentions in Weibo posts). Japan
leads the way with the US and France following respectively. The most frequent mentioned
topics in relation to Germany on China's social media are football, Made in Germany and
education.
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MERICS Web Special (July 2015)
by Karsten Luc
German personalities
Popular Mesut Özil, but where is Angela Merkel?
German personalities in China's social media
Germany's image on China's social media benefited significantly from the football success at
the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The most mentioned word in relation to Germany on Weibo is
"football national team". The "Top 10" German Weibo profiles are also dominated by German
football. These include FC Bayern Munich (two million followers), the German national team
(1.5 million followers) and the Bundesliga (1.4 million followers). These profiles have a higher
number of fans compared with, for example, well-known car brands or German institutions
like the German embassy or Goethe-Institute. To put this in perspective: Chinese top
bloggers have more than 70 million followers
The "Top 5" keywords on Weibo mentioned in connection with Germany are: national team,
China, football fan, World Cup and USA.
A number of German (former) national team players have started to discover Weibo for their
own purposes. The list is led by Mesut Özil (290,000 fans) and followed by Lukas Podolski
(260,000), Philipp Lahm (180,000), Arne Friedrich (101,000), Bastian Schweinsteiger (36,000),
Mario Götze (23,000) and Holger Badstuber (19,000). Mesut Özil was voted the crowd
favourite during the award ceremony "German Football Ambassador 2015" organised by the
German Foreign Ministry. This is very much in line with his popularity on Weibo. He seems to
be popular because of the many selfies that he shot together with his family or teammates.
Moreover, his posts are all written in Chinese. Özil also benefits from the fact that he plays at
the popular top club Arsenal London (the club has 3.6 million Weibo fans).
Why is Chancellor Angela Merkel not (yet) on Weibo?
Only a handful of high-level foreign politicians are represented on Weibo with own profiles.
Angela Merkel presently does not have an own account. It is by no means necessary for
prominent politicians to produce many posts in order to gain fans. Upcoming visits to China
are the best reason to open an account on Weibo.
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MERICS Web Special (July 2015)
by Karsten Luc
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (over 170,000 followers, 28 posts) for example ventured
for the first time onto Weibo ahead of his China visit in spring 2015. Amongst other things he
posted a selfie together with Premier Li Keqiang that was shared more than 70,000 times.
Among all foreign politicians David Cameron has the most followers (more than 930,000
followers, 35 posts). His most shared post is about personal congratulations from Premier Li
Keqiang straight after Cameron's election victory. Cameron created his Weibo profile just
ahead of his China visit in 2013.
Official photos with handshakes between politicians or welcomes with military honours attract
much less interest. Chinese netizens, however, do enjoy selfies in which the participants are
looking straight into the camera. Especially selfies made together with Chinese politicians get
many likes and are shared far more often.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has up to now only had a passive presence on Chinese social
media: she primarily appears in video clips. For example she can be seen in a video together
with Alibaba founder Jack Ma at CeBIT 2015 that was viewed more than 1.5 million times.
Whilst most of the comments made in respect to this video are related to Jack Ma, the
Chancellor plays a more prominent role in a Chinese news clip on her visit to Japan. China's
netizens perceive her less as a private person but more as a representative for Germany. The
content of the news clip fits in perfectly with China's official conveyed comparison of Germany
and Japan following the "good cop, bad cop" strategy: Beijing ascribes Germany a positive
role as regards to dealing with their past whilst Japan is criticised for their lack accounting their
past.
Germany good, Japan bad: selected comments made with the news
clip:
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„Japan should follow Germany's example."
„Germany is not only praised for its industry but also
Germany's prominent figures have a quality from
which the entire world could learn from!"
„Buy a German but by no means a Japanese car."
„If the Japanese were to admit their mistakes like the Germans have
done then China and the other Asian countries would forgive Japan.
Authenticity and witticism are key for success on Weibo
Compared to international celebrities, German football players and celebrities have relatively
few fans (for instance, David Beckham has more than 5 million followers, the South Korean
singer Psy over 24 million followers). Also, they do have more followers on Twitter than on
Weibo. Why is that so? Only a few of them actually do post in Chinese. The authenticity of
the language seems to play a significant role. For Chinese netizens it is less convincing if
non-native speakers post their messages in English. On the one hand, Mesut Özil has great
success with his Chinese language posts. On the other hand, Philipp Lahm composes his
comments in a strange mix of English, German and Chinese. This tends to irritate most
users.
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Christoph Rehage might not be a top athlete but still has achieved an impressive sporting
feat. His Weibo profile is followed by more than 800,000 followers. He became famous in
China and Germany for his march from Beijing to Xinjiang (2007-2008).
The reason for Rehage's success in China is that he perfectly commands Chinese witticism.
He regularly posts short clips on Weibo in which he talks about different topics in a funny
way. Amongst the most popular shared messages in the examined annual period two of his
Weibo posts are featured.
There is never only one joke to be had: The Chinese netizens laugh about Albert Einstein's
supposedly bad grades
Einstein joke: a one is a real catastrophe in China‘s 100 point system
The five most shared Weibo posts between May 2014 and May 2015
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Learn from Made in Germany
Kitchen technology, manhole cover and ambulance - "Made in
Germany" fascinates Chinese netizens
Particularly German quality and innovations are popular topics on WeChat. For Chinese
netizens "Made in Germany" is not just about technology. They also associate order, efficiency
and creativity with this idiom
The industrial slaughtering of pigs in a supposed link to the industry 4.0 appears extremely often
in connection with the keyword "Germany"
Top 5 WeChat articles with the highest number of views
Order and efficiency: "It is worth following Germany's example"
On the basis of a Youku video German order and efficiency is marvelled at and extensively
discussed. An almost one minute clip within the "Top 10" Youku videos shows how German
car drivers clear the way on the motorway for an ambulance in an emergency situation. In the
comment section Chinese netizens praise the exemplary character of Germans. Chinese
major cities especially have to grapple with severe congestion. At the same time chaotic
conditions exacerbate the situation on the roads making it difficult for ambulances to get
through swiftly to rescue casualties. China‘s netizens use Germany as a mirror to criticise this
problem in their own country:
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Top 5 WeChat articles with the highest number of views
Learn from Germany - selected comments made for the ambulance
video
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“Will I ever see us in China being able to achieve something similar."
“Regardless if it was an ambulance or a fire engine in China we
wouldn't let them pass."
"China is China, Germany is Germany, what is there to compare?"
"It is worth following Germany's example!"
"Quite funny, the Germans are kind-hearted, that is the first time I
have seen something like this."
"In Germany it is against the law if you don't give way. You can even
be subject to statutory penalty payments in Germany for verbal
abuse."
"It may be natural for Germans but after watching the video I am very
moved. Why? Because where I live you don't see the same and that
makes me sad."
"The Germans are very conscious of order and we are not like them.
We would be advised to learn such good things from the Germans.
Quality: In pursuit for German products
German products are extremely popular in China: many people appreciate German quality and
don't see their domestic products as a better alternative. A very popular and frequently used
hashtag on Weibo is “Shopping Germany" (# 德国代购 #). In this hashtag topic netizens
showcase their purchased German products or try to resell them.
Within this context the words milk powder, import, baby and child spring up. Since the melanin
scandal in 2008 the trust in domestic milk powder remains very low. This resulted in a greater
demand for German milk powder products. The quality of milk powder is also on the agenda
of the agricultural dialogue between Germany and China.
Chinese link up with the help of hashtags in order to get to know German products
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MERICS Web Special (July 2015)
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A WeChat article that compares German and Chinese quality received the most "likes". It
outlines the difference between German and Chinese petrol. Bizarrely an internet user
brought back a bottle of German petrol to China. He determined that Chinese petrol was
comparably inferior. Similarly to the ambulance video China's netizens use the reference to
Germany to indirectly criticise their own country: China struggles with poor petrol standards
which according to the opinion of Chinese experts is one reason for the bad air quality in the
cities.
Creativity: "Something like this would not happen in China"
Chinese netizens also rate the creativity of Germans. A promotional clip of the supermarket
chain Edeka even made it on the "Top 10" of the most viewed and Germany-related Youku
videos. The video with the title "New features at German supermarket checkouts surprise the
public" has been viewed around 2.1 million times. The clip shows how checkout assistants
play the Christmas song "Jingle Bells" by scanning various products. Shoppers are astonished
and then are captivated by the cheerful mood. Interestingly, the Chinese netizens completely
disregard the commercial nature of the "advertising stunt" or product placement. Instead they
only focus on the creative implementation of the clip. The possible reason for this: the
aforementioned food retailer has no outlets in China and is unknown to viewers.
How creative is that? Selected comments made in regards to the
Edeka video:
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"This is exactly what foreigners are best at ...
they have the ability of being creative whenever they want."
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"Very moving, something like this wouldn't happen in China."
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"If checkout assistants were to play around like this
in China they would be snarled at by the customers."
"Very heart warming. After watching it the second time I was close to tears."
"Very moving … let's work together to create such a harmonious society."
„German nightmare": Industry 4.0
However, Chinese netizens do not only communicate positive impressions of Germany.
Sometimes untruths are circulated or central issues of the Sino-German cooperation, such as
the Industry 4.0, are misunderstood and not classified properly.
China's government is adopting a tougher stance to counteract so-called "online rumours" on
social media. Next to pornographic and violent content Beijing also includes such posts in this
category that transport disagreeable political criticism or could result in mobilising collective
action. Celebrities and companies are also increasingly subject to false reports. Western
companies are taking legal action to combat false reports.
Germany is not spared from untruths on China's social media: a frequently widespread video
on WeChat shows the industrial slaughtering of pigs. There are a number of articles available
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MERICS Web Special (July 2015)
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with different title variations on this topic. Some of the headlines read like this: "Is this how
Industry 4.0 looks like?" "Look how the Germans slaughter their pigs. Industry 4.0, a factory
without humans!" "Conveyer belt pig slaughtering in Germany once again shocks the world. It
shows everyone how intelligent the German Industry 4.0 is." However, the articles contain two
mistakes: first, the industrial slaughter facility is wrongly associated with the Industry 4.0.
Secondly, the facility is owned and managed by a Dutch manufacturer.
The reason why the video probably has received so much attention from the Chinese netizens
is that the chosen teaser pictures create a media-effective shock effect and by so doing stir
the public interest in "scandal news".
A further video title is "Is this supposed to be the German dream? The German pig slaughtering
facility shocks." It is surprising that the term "German dream" (德国梦) is being used here. Such
terminology is not at all common in Germany and is more aligned with the Chinese
government’s propagated slogan of the “China Dream”. Possibly the video is also being used
to specifically criticise Germany. In fact, the video has been posted by many different private
users on WeChat and video platforms.
There are, however, also neutral examples regarding the topic Industry 4.0. Under the search
term "German Industry 4.0" there are primarily Chinese news clips to be found with relatively
low click figures and no comments at all.
Education country Germany
Study country Germany - educational and funny
Emotions and daily life seem to attract huge attention: the graduation video of a Chinese music
student in Germany captivated the hearts of Chinese netizens and is the most viewed post in
this topic area (670,000 views). In front of a German audience a Chinese foreign exchange
student humorously recounts his difficulties in Germany. "The first problem I encountered had
nothing to do with my studies but was related to the internet. I had to wait two months to finally
get an internet connection." He also describes how a German friend once taught him that
"come here" in German is the equivalent of "heel!" Once in a German lesson the Chinese
foreign exchange student called out with excitement: "Teacher, I have a question, heel!"
Difficulties when studying in Germany - selected comments made in
regards to the Chinese student's graduation video
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 "I can't really judge how well he plays the piano and I have never
been to Germany, but the video really moved me and I was close
to tears."
 "A Chinese in Germany, that is just great"
"It is quite a challenge to learn German and to successfully obtain a
degree in Germany is even more difficult." •
"Germans are so extremely serious that if someone says everybody
needs to close their eyes then all will do so without asking why."
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Another reason why this video is so popular amongst Chinese netizens is that they admire
their compatriot: a Chinese speaking in German is able to bring a German audience to
occasionally laugh at his jokes.
Germany's image a new export hit?
Because of their large fan numbers and high share rates, posts by Chinese netizens have a
great influence on shaping the perception of Germany on China's social media. Therefore it is
important to German institutions to attract Chinese netizens with original contents.
German institutions though, particularly those focused on education, are only able to reach a
fraction of Chinese internet users due to their relatively low follower figures.
Conspicuously active: Technical Universities and East-German universities
Weibo ranking of German institutions with focus on education in comparison with the German
Embassy
Their content tends to be very bureaucratic: institutions frequently post application forms and
job announcements as photos or website screenshots. Formats like cartoons, short videos or
infographics that especially appeal to younger Chinese netizens are hardly used. The German
educational institutions primarily use social media as an information platform and less as an
interactive platform where content is shared or commented on. However, Weibo hashtags
created by Chinese netizens like "Learn German" (6,082 comments, eight million views),
"Study in Germany, broaden your horizon" (3,720 comments, 28 million views) and "Rent a
room in Germany" (3,136 comments, three million views) generate a lot of attention. Anyone
who is interested in Germany can find practical assistance for living in Germany or get firsthand impressions from Chinese who live in Germany.
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MERICS Web Special (July 2015)
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Grade mania and maths bug - quaint educational topics
When Chinese heard that Albert Einstein mainly scored ones and twos in his report they were
quite surprised. How could it be that such an excellent scientist had such bad grades? In China
one point is the worst grade. This story resulted in a very lively discussion on Weibo.
A post about the memory sport series "Super brain" underlines how serious Chinese are about
numbers. The duel between the German lawyer Simon Reinhard and the 22 year-old Chinese
Wang Feng is the top second Youku video that features the keyword Germany (more than four
million views). In the broadcasted episode on the 25th of March 2015 the task was to memorise
the sequence of a randomly mixed set of playing cards and then lay them out correctly with a
new set of cards within a certain period of time. Wang Feng was able to achieve this without
any mistakes in around 19 seconds whilst Simon Reinhard, who holds the world record for
memorising 186 international first names and surnames in 15 minutes, made a number of
mistakes and also required slightly longer.
Commercial productions and TV reports dominate the ranking of most popular videos
Top Youku videos on Germany
Similar to the often-viewed topic "Industry 4.0 and pig slaughter" the most watched Youku
video related to Germany is based on incorrect facts. The video "German touches the breasts
of nearly a hundred women" was viewed more than five million times. However, it is wrongly
attributed to a German. It shows a man who in public groped the breasts of women
(occasionally some men) whilst a scoreboard displays the number of touches. This man
however is not German but actually Venezuelan. The scenes also originate from Venezuela.
This was also picked up by a number of people who commented: "I didn't know that palm trees
also grew in Germany." Many netizens were incensed, made ironic comments but some were
amused. And some were simply surprised by the open nature of Germans.
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Images platform Social Media: Opportunities and risks
Consequences
stakeholders
from
existing
German
images
for
German
The current perception of Germany is predominantly positive in Chinese social media.
However, it would be careless to rest on one's laurels. The example "Industry 4.0 and pig
slaughtering" demonstrates that a single negative post can shape the perception towards a
topic. German stakeholders especially in subject areas like football, "Made in Germany" and
education should assume a more proactive role in shaping the topics and discussions on
Chinese social media.
1. Utilise prominent personalities as German ambassadors
The results clearly indicate that German football plays a significant role in forming the
perception of Germany in China's social media. German national team players are quite wellknown in China. Particularly these celebrities could despite still relatively low but increasable
follower numbers make a contribution to influencing Germany's perception. Furthermore,
German stakeholders could also cooperate with leading Chinese personalities on social media
in order to give German-related topics a greater effective coverage.
2. Produce more web videos with relation to the everyday life of Chinese netizens
Can those involved in the area of education - especially those who are directly or indirectly
responsible for promoting German culture and the country as a whole - draw on the popularity
of the football players? Their sphere of influence is presently still too marginal in order to
actually reach the majority of the 198 million active Weibo users per month. However, they
could capitalise on the considerable number of helpful hashtags generated by Chinese users
and, for instance, post their own information on language acquisition and degree courses in
Germany. In order to get attention or even achieve more shares it is necessary to generate
content that is aligned to the life and issues affecting Chinese netizens. German institutions
could for example attract young Germans and/or Chinese who are already studying in
Germany as protagonists for short videos. Web videos and video platforms such as Youku are
still not being used enough. The amateurish filmed ambulance video or the Edeka clip
demonstrates that especially everyday videos achieve a great level of attention.
3. Recognise false reports or negative sentiments and strengthen interaction
Negative examples that are partly based on untruths swiftly cast a shadow on Germany.
Regular trend indicators can help to identify them. The affected German persons or institutions
should - depending on the issue - engage in the discussion with factual arguments or even
humorous comments. German stakeholders must not see social media as one-way information
channel but instead should increasingly actively engage with Chinese netizens.
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For German politics and business there is for example the opportunity to counter the circulating
false reports and weak presence of the Industry 4.0 by setting new emphases:
an option would be to provide interesting and gripping video content about the German industry
4.0 on social media platforms.
4. Capitalise on the enthusiasm for "Made in Germany" and interest in
The many comments made in respect to German-related content clearly show that Chinese
are interested in "Made in Germany" and want to learn from that. A very good example for this
is offered by the video "It is just great how a manhole cover is changed in Germany." In western
social networks it is almost unthinkable that such a video (Youku version) would receive as
much as attention as it has in China with more than 2.7 million views in WeChat. For instance,
German institutions and companies could build on the interesting arguments in the comment
sections.
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