Abstract
China’s cultural blueprints establish the foundational principles guiding the development of cultural policy areas, such as film, music, and publishing. Through a corpus-based analysis of five cultural Five-Year Plans (2001–2021) following China’s WTO accession in 2001, this article examines shifting priorities in ideology, economic growth, and reform. It introduces a novel conceptual framework – the socialist cultural market – to inform future research on China’s cultural policy and industries. The findings reveal that the Chinese government institutionalised this market model to: (1) prioritise social effects (ideological alignment with socialism), (2) reconcile these with economic returns, and (3) promote cultural globalisation. However, the study underscores a persistent tension: while the state advances global soft-power ambitions, cultural production remains primarily a vehicle for disseminating official ideology. This duality – ideological nationalism coexisting with economic globalism – ultimately constrains China’s international cultural influence. The central challenge for China lies in reconciling these competing priorities if it seeks to enhance its global cultural influence.