BY NANZI WANG

Culture in Northeast Asia is facing opportunities, problems and challenges in the 21st century. This soft power is increasingly a crucial factor in the cooperation and communication among Northeast Asian brands.

Culture identity surmounts various kinds of cultural differences, on the basis of the approval on human generality and general similarity on the foundation of mankind culture. And culture entity is kind of compound which possesses domestic tradition and universal value. Such cultural coherence cultivated by countries and their brands have a profound impact on the stability of regional cooperation, especially in the realm of business, stimulating those brands to be more competitive and powerful.

The way of finding the cultural identity and building the culture entity is challenging but operable. The similarity of cultures in Northeast Asia is the base of the process. Just take China, Japan and South Korea as examples. Confucianism is the common denominator in determining working attitude. For the development of business, it can become an inexhaustible ideological resource. Spiritual orientation can lead to modernization and competitive strength. We can find out more cases in Northeast Asia for the sake of supporting the cultural construction with the more firm foundation.

On one hand, we need to eliminate the cultural barrier among Northeast Asian countries. It is well known that the cultural barrier affects brand management, efficiency and quality, and embitters human relations. For such an encounter, we should find the mechanism and platform to eliminate the misunderstanding, to promote mutual trust and cooperation through dialogue and communication. On the other hand, we should look for opportunities for Northeast Asian people to enhance our friendship. The governments, college or non-government organizations could set up programs in order to expand cultural contacts and exchange. All-round and multi-angled programs will help us find the common identity and promote the innovation of regional culture, which Northeast Asian brands can receive much more enlightening ideas from.

For the purpose of improving the competitiveness among the world brands, it is better to have an eye on the culture combination with the global culture and market.

Finding the cultural identity and building the culture entity is a long process. Each country should make strategies of culture development and enhance the cultural relationship with others in order to achieve the final goal, thus maintaining the Northeast Asia regional competitiveness, peace, stability and development.

Nanzi Wang is an editor for The Peking Globalist and a student at Peking University in Beijing, China.