Branding China: The Ultimate Challenge in Reputation Management?

A good reputation can enhance the competitiveness of a nation and its corporate/product brands. As China 'goes global ', it is important that it manages its reputation, its nation brand, and shapes how it is viewed in the international arena. Ten challenges facing the branding of China are identified from a review of the relevant literature. They center around the key issue of whether China can be a coherent brand, given the nation's complexity, contradictions and enormity. The paper argues that there are common denominators, which straddle across the different outputs of a nation, that can be used for nation branding. It ends with a discussion of what are the possible values and images that Brand China can embrace.