Chinese Platformed Cultural Contraflows: Cultural Discount, Animation IPs and Bilibili’s Overseas Expansion

Against the backdrop of cultural contraflows led by digital platforms from non-Western contexts, the paper examined Bilibili’s internationalization strategies through the integrated lens of cultural discount and cultural proximity theories. More specifically, it investigated how Bilibili’s original animation IPs negotiated cultural discount through narrative design and what institutional frictions shaped the challenges and opportunities for its platformed cultural contraflows during transnational expansion. Methodologically, the paper combined a narrative analysis comparing To Be Hero X and Link Click with 15 semi-structured interviews of Bilibili employees across content planning, localization, overseas operations, and strategy development. Key findings revealed two strategic narratives: cultural reductionism by diluting specific Chinese symbols for broader acceptability, and fictional universalism by constructing a culturally rootless worldview resonant with global youth values. The latter, exemplified by To Be Hero X , suggested greater effectiveness in minimizing cultural discount. Moreover, Bilibili still faced major challenges, including cultural discount in its interactive system, value conflicts in local markets, and heavy dependence on third-party distribution channels. The study extended cultural discount and cultural proximity theories to focus on the strategic positioning of IP products and platform promotion, and specifically proposed fictional universalism as an alternative pathway for negotiating cultural discount in transnational contraflows. By grounding the theoretical extensions in the empirical case of a Chinese digital platform, the research would respond to the call for more comprehensive understandings of how non-Western media could strategically navigate the structural constraints of global cultural circulation.