ABSTRACT
The importance of the Chinese internet industry is becoming more and more apparent worldwide. This chapter analyzes the role of Chinese news media, internet companies in particular, in order to explore their role in the going out strategy and their impact on the soft power strategy. It presents the general characteristics of the three most important Chinese internet companies – Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, also known as BAT. At the present stage, BAT still has to face several issues, such as freedom of expression, information control and censorship. The chapter explores some of the most important attempts implemented by these most representative Chinese internet companies in exploring markets outside Chinese borders. It explains that the Chinese government largely adopted an instrumental view of the internet and intends to harness the economic potential of the internet for national economic development. Particular attention has been addressed to the case of WeChat, especially in Italy.
