Mr. Ma, whose multimedia studio, Shizhi Media, produced the taxi cartoon, said about a fifth of its clients were party or state entities. The video about the taxi initiative, for example, was produced for China Central Television in September as part of a contract to promote the work of a party body known as the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms, 1,000 days after it was formed.

“Government agencies used to be content to just get the message out. Now they care about persuasion,” said Mr. Ma, who teaches at an academy that trains party officials. “Not only do they want people to see their messages, they want to make you believe the messages are true and to inform your judgment. This is a major difference.”

The party’s best propagandists, he said, are students of politics and popular culture. Some have analyzed hit songs to learn how to use musical repetition to convey key ideas. Others have looked for inspiration in the speaking style of leaders like President Obama and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

Mr. Ma said he had sought to humanize Mr. Xi by depicting him and his wife, Peng Liyuan, as animated characters, a technique aimed at attracting people who are not interested in politics. He has also tried to make political topics more appealing by using vivid imagery, producing animations that depict officials scheming at bathhouses to promote Mr. Xi’s anticorruption campaign, for example.

The results have not been conclusive. While some of these propaganda videos have gone viral, others have been passed around only to be ridiculed. Few are able to summon the audiences drawn to China’s most popular movies, television shows and songs.