Golden Panda Awards 2025 in Chengdu Spotlight Global Storytelling, Cultural Diplomacy, and Human‑Centric Cinema

The second edition, held on September 12‑13, 2025, attracted entries from 5,343 works across 126 countries and regions, underscoring the event’s global reach. The theme, “A Covenant of Light and Shadow Meets Beauty,” guided a packed schedule that included the Golden Panda International Cultural Forum, the main awards ceremony and a celebratory night of performances. Highlights from the ceremony included Tang Yan’s win for Best Actress in the television unit for her role in the series “Flourishing” (《繁花》) and Wu Zhenyu’s Best Actor prize for “Border Water Stories” (《边水往事》). A British series, “Mr Bates vs The Post Office,” secured a nomination for Best Series, illustrating the awards’ openness to diverse storytelling.

Organising the event were the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Sichuan Provincial Government, with senior cultural officials at the helm. Deputy Minister of the Communist Party’s Propaganda Department Shen Haixiong, also director of China Media Group, served as chair of the organizing committee, while Li Yi, party secretary of the literary federation, acted as deputy director. The jury was led by acclaimed director Chen Kaige, and featured a mix of cultural luminaries—including former Palace Museum curator Shan Jixiang, writer Liu Zhenyun, baritone Liao Changyong, singer Han Hong, actor Huang Xiaoming, actress Chen Lijun, and internet star Li Ziqi. International guests such as French director Vincent Perez, Cairo International Film Festival chairman Hussein Fahmy and animator Douglas Hans Smith added a global flavor, while dignitaries like Pakistan’s President Arif Alvi Zardari and Laos’ Vice President Khamphan Phommathat underscored the diplomatic dimension of the gathering.

Beyond the glitz, the Golden Panda Awards convey a clear strategic purpose: to use cinema and television as conduits for cultural exchange, with the giant panda serving as a universal symbol of goodwill. Organizers repeatedly stress the “humanistic content” of winning works, positioning narrative depth and emotional resonance above technocratic spectacle or AI‑driven production shortcuts. This emphasis signals to studios and creators a pivot toward stories that foreground human experience, potentially reshaping investment patterns toward original scripts and character‑driven projects.

The event also functions as a platform for talent development and technical cooperation. Recent agreements with Pakistan, for instance, outline joint policy dialogue, program co‑production, technical exchange and training for broadcasting professionals, pointing to a broader vision of capacity building across the Belt and Road network. By fostering these links, the awards help set quality benchmarks that reverberate through both domestic and international markets.

Culturally, the ceremony amplifies China’s soft‑power agenda. Showcasing a high proportion of foreign entries—73.2 % of the submissions in the second edition—alongside a jury that is “almost half overseas,” the awards present Chinese audiences with a mosaic of global perspectives while projecting Chinese artistic standards abroad. For domestic viewers, the recognition of Chinese productions reinforces national pride and a sense of collective identity, aligning with state narratives that emphasize harmony, cooperation and a “community of shared destiny.”

Politically, the Golden Panda Awards operate as a conduit for cultural diplomacy. By convening leaders, artists and industry figures from around the world in Chengdu, China cultivates goodwill and strengthens bilateral ties, especially with Belt and Road partners. The presence of high‑level officials such as President Zardari and Vice President Phommathat underscores the event’s role in advancing diplomatic objectives, while the ceremony’s framing of universal themes—peace, shared values, human connection—mirrors the broader messaging of Chinese foreign policy.

Public reaction to the awards has been lively, particularly on Chinese social media platforms where anticipation built up in the days leading to the ceremony. Discussions ranged from curiosity over the international nominees to debates over the merit of the winners, with many users expressing excitement about the “best stories have no borders” ethos. Although systematic sentiment analysis remains limited, early reports indicate that viewers are eager to see how the awards shape future co‑productions and whether the emphasis on humanistic storytelling will influence the industry’s direction.

In sum, the Golden Panda Awards are more than a biennial celebration of cinematic craft. They serve as a multifaceted instrument that shapes industry trends, bolsters China’s cultural outreach, and intertwines artistic achievement with strategic diplomatic objectives. As the awards continue to grow in stature, they will likely remain a pivotal arena where storytelling, soft power, and global collaboration intersect.