Ad to show ‘friendly China’ during Hu’s visit to US

BEIJING - The Chinese government has scheduled a 30-second television advertisement to deliver a “friendly message” to the US public during President Hu Jintao’s visit to the US next week, state media said Friday.

The advertisement will air on several “major media outlets” and a giant screen in New York’s Times Square, the Beijing News and other media reported.

The film features “prominent Chinese figures, ordinary people from different walks of life, and celebrities” including NBA basketball star Yao Ming, the newspaper quoted Wang Zhongwei, deputy director of the State Council Information Office, as saying.

It aims to “send a friendly message to the world under the theme ‘Hello world, here we come’,” the Communist Party’s People’s Daily newspaper reported in October.

Former Olympic 100-metres-hurdles gold medallist Liu Xiang, famous actresses Zhang Ziyi and Zhou Xun, and Chinese astronauts are among other celebrities who took part in the film, People’s Daily said.

Following the US broadcasts, the film will be shown in Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, Wang was quoted as saying.

The Global Times newspaper quoted an employee of advertising firm Lintas China, which made the film, as saying it was “produced under the instruction of the State Council Information Office”.

China has broadcast similar advertisements before, including during the run-up to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

The ministry of commerce aired a 30-second advertisement in 2009 to promote “Made in China” products on CNN and other overseas media outlets, the Global Times said.

Hu is scheduled to meet US President Barack Obama in Washington Wednesday.