South Korean rapper-singer Psy has topped a Chinese online music chart, as the popularity of his global hit "Gangnam Style" spills over into the world's most populous country, a Web site showed Monday.
"Gangnam Style" ranked No. 1 on the music search service of China's largest search engine, Baidu.
The song has caught on with fans in China after Psy's popularity spread from the United States, where the single first went viral, to Europe and Latin America.
"Gangnam Style" became a global sensation just a few months after its debut, with the music video for it spawning numerous copycat videos and parodies on the Internet.
The video features the singer's trademark quirky style that amuses audiences of all ages, combined with a signature "horse-riding" dance.
Psy, whose given Korean name is Park Jae-sang, topped the iTunes Chart last month with his latest single, making him the first Korean artist to reach No. 1 on the U.S. online chart.
On the Billboard chart, Psy ranked second for the second consecutive week, according to Billboard.com. The song jumped to No. 1 on the British Official Singles Chart last week.
Although the song has few English-language lyrics, its music is familiar to Western listeners with its catchy pop melodies mixed with electronic dance beats.
Psy's combination of light music with his good-natured humor, easy-to-learn dance moves and the catchy chorus, "Oppan Gangnam Style," has created a worldwide phenomenon.
Renowned U.S. magazine New Yorker said the cultural impact Gangnam Style has made on the global audience drew envy from China.
"In China, the Gangnam phenomenon carries a special pique. It has left people asking, 'Why couldn't we come up with that?'" wrote Evan Osonos, Beijing-based writer for New Yorker, on the magazine's blog.
Chinese political leaders have been stressing China's need to boost its "soft power" in a bid to remake the country's international image, which is more inclined toward the "hard power"
of politics and economic size.
In 2007, Chinese President Hu Jintao defined "soft power"
development as a key national strategy.
Confucius Institutes, which promote Chinese language and culture across the world, were seen as one such initiative for advancing China's cultural influence internationally. (Yonhap News)
