CHINESE SOFT POWER AND PUBLIC DIPLOMACY: FOOTBALL AS A TOOL TO PROMOTE CHINA-BRAZIL RELATIONS

Resumo

Since the proclamation of the People's Republic of China (PRC), 70 years ago, sports have been used as a political and diplomatic tool. In October 2014, China issued the policy “Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Sports Industry and Promoting Sports Consumption” (国务院关于加快发展体育产业促进体育消费的若干意见). Since then other public policy documents have been published to leverage the growth of the country's sports industry by promoting the development of strategic sectors to meet a bold goal: by 2025 the sport industry generates $ 813 billion for the economy of the country. One of these public policies is the “China’s medium and long-term football development plan (2016-2050)"- (中国足球中长期发展规划 2016—2050年), thereafter ‘The Plan’. That plan is also relevant for China's diplomatic and trade relations, as explicitly demonstrate the perception of sports as an instrument of public diplomacy and soft power. 45 years ago, the PRC and Brazil established their diplomatic relations. Since 2009, China has become Brazil’s main trading partner. And more recently, since the release of ‘The Plan’, football has served as a form of exchange between the two countries. This paper, based on the literature review and the analysis of the mentioned public policy documents, aims to analyze the Plan trying to understand the innovative character of this public policy, from the perspective of innovation theory, especially in the contributions of Peter Drucker, who sees innovation as “an economic and social term”. As well seeks to identify how the Plan contribute to the development of the Chinese sports industry and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), while serving as a public diplomacy and soft power tool, and in that way how football can contribute to forge closer ties between Brazil and China.