Soft power is a kind of ability, which can be achieved by attracting rather than forcing or inducing. It is another part of a country's comprehensive strength besides the traditional hard power based on military and economic strength. This concept clarifies the important value of soft power and promotes it to the same or even more important position as the traditional "hard power"-as joseph nye said, "hard power and soft power are equally important, but in the information age, soft power is becoming more prominent than before". A series of studies around "soft power" show that people are enlightening people with a new, comprehensive and balanced development path to improve the comprehensive strength of disciplines at all levels.
When analyzing the elements of a country's comprehensive national strength, it is usually divided into tangible strength and intangible strength, or hard strength and soft power. Joseph nye, a professor at Harvard University, divides comprehensive national strength into two forms: hard power and soft power. Hard power refers to the dominant strength, including basic resources (such as land area, population and natural resources), military strength, economic strength and scientific and technological strength. Soft power is divided into national cohesion, the degree to which culture is generally recognized and the degree to which it participates in international institutions. In contrast, hard power is easier to understand, while soft power is more complicated. Joseph nye summarized soft power as guiding power, attraction and imitation power, which is an assimilative power, the attraction of a country's thoughts and the ability of political guidance.