Warm water in the morning instead of an iced latte, tai chi in the park instead of a gym session – Generation Z in the West is swept up in the chinamaxxing phenomenon.
This isn’t about politics or a sudden love for China. It’s more about a quiet shift in habits. About how TikTok videos with morning rituals, street food, and a slower pace of life, posted under the hashtag chinamaxxing, begin to compete with the Western cult of productivity – and sometimes win.
According to Forbes, ‘chinamaxxing’ is an attempt to “reassemble” oneself through a different system of coordinates: more discipline, less hustle, a focus on endurance and the long run. No ideology – just a set of practices that seem to work.
And there’s an irony in this: China, which for a long time tried to export its culture “from above” – through cinema, media, and official narratives – is ultimately entering “from below.” Through algorithms. Through the visual language of short videos. Through everyday life that looks more convincing than any propaganda.
The numbers only reinforce this: in a recent study by Gallup, global approval of Chinese leadership surpassed that of the U.S. by 5% for the first time in 20 years. Gallup surveyed more than 130 countries and found that over the past year, China’s global approval rose from 32% to 36%, while U.S. approval fell from 39% to 31%.
China doesn’t necessarily have to be liked here – it simply turns out to be present. In the phone interface, in supply chains, in that very video people watch before going to sleep.
BRICS Business Magazine is not staying on the sidelines and reminds us that a special issue was recently released, where Chinese became the second language.
In this issue, China is no longer presented as an abstract economy, but as a system of influence in detail: from cultural presence in museums and theater to infrastructure projects like “Huaming Park” in Moscow, from a new economic strategy and investment opportunities to the expansion of the automotive industry and the film sector.
