On March 22, the CISS hosted an webinar on China’s Image and Communication to the World in the New Era.

The webinar was hosted by Fu Ying, Chair of CISS, and attended by over 30 participants, including academic committee members and fellows of CISS, experts and scholars from higher education institutions like Tsinghua University, Peking University, Fudan University, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Shanghai International Studies University, Beijing Language and Culture University, and Zhejiang International Studies University, as well as editors and journalists from People’s Daily, Global Times, CGTN and other news agencies.

Based on the analysis of how China is viewed in the context of the pandemic, the webinar discussed both opportunities and challenges presented to China’s image and communication to the world in the new era and offered relevant suggestions. It is believed that a country’s image should match its development. China has a complicated and multilayered global image, so its communication to the world should also be in line with that for showing the world a more realistic and comprehensive image. More significantly, means of communication should also follow the trend in the omnimedia era, in a bid to demonstrate the diversity of awareness and capability.

It was agreed that with its rising national strength and influence, China is notably becoming a better communicator in the world arena, and that “Chinese discourse” is gaining increasing influence. The world has realized that China is appearing as a strong power shaping the international landscape and the world order, thus willing to learn China’s views and positions. While this is a major opportunity for China’s global communication, China is still in a more unfavorable position than western countries regarding public opinion. Radical forces from western countries like the US are more aggressive when attacking and vilifying China, and in particular, the complex and profound changes in China-US relations are bringing new challenges to China’s global communication. China should shape its image with calmness and perseverance. In addition, Chinese people need to make their voices heard with more active participation in global forums and publish more of their works on the international platforms.