Present an Accurate, Multidimensional and Panoramic Image of China

Present an Accurate, Multidimensional and Panoramic Image of China*

May 31, 2021

To strengthen our international communication capacity, it is important to tell genuine and engaging stories, make our voice heard, and present an accurate, multidimensional and panoramic image of China. We should be fully aware of the importance and necessity of strengthening international communication in the new era, and aim to have a stronger voice in the world that is compatible with China’s overall national strength and international status. We can thereby create an environment where public opinion outside China is positive towards our reform, development and stability – this will contribute to building a global community of shared future.

Our Party has always attached great importance to international communication. Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, we have devised new forms of international communication based on the best of our traditions, improved our domestic and international systems, established media clusters with international influence, and continued to promote the global outreach of Chinese culture.

We have presented an effective discourse to an international audience, and put in place a basic framework for international communication that is wide-ranging and multidimensional, and involves multiple players. China’s voice is much better heard, and its international influence has increased significantly. At the same time, we are faced with a new situation and new tasks.

To meet these challenges, we should strengthen top-level design and overall planning, and establish strategy for our international discourse with distinctive Chinese features. The strategy will focus on how to shape international public opinion by making our communication more effective, our culture more attractive, our image more positive, and our narrative more powerful in the global arena.

We should move faster to establish our own discourse and narrative, interpret China’s practice with China’s theory, and enrich China’s theory with China’s practice. We should create new concepts, domains and expressions that are accessible to an international audience, and present panoramic and distinctive stories of China and its culture. We need to let the audience of other countries know more about the CPC, and help them understand that our Party truly works in the interests of the Chinese people and what are the reasons for the success of our Party, of Marxism and of Chinese socialism.

We should conduct in-depth studies from a range of perspectives – politics, economics, culture, social affairs, and the eco-environment – focusing on China’s spirit, values and strengths, so as to provide academic and theoretical support for our international communication.

We must promote Chinese culture beyond our national borders, advocating common values, sharing our ideas, and increasing mutual understanding, to let the world know more about our culture and how it embodies Chinese spirit and wisdom. We need to strike the right tone, be open, confident, and modest, and present a true image of China as a country worthy of friendship, trust and respect.

China’s ideas, visions and solutions should be better communicated to the international community. China is moving closer to the center stage of the world. We have both the capacity and the duty to play a bigger role in global affairs, to work together with other countries in solving the common problems of humanity, and to make a greater contribution to the world.

We will champion the cause of building a global community of shared future and share with the world our approach to development, civilization, security, human rights, the eco-environment, international order, and global governance, based on our successful experience and a history dating back more than 5,000 years. We will continue to advocate multilateralism and oppose unilateralism and hegemonism. We will work closely with the international community to shape a new international order that is fairer and more equitable, and to build a new model of international relations. We need to make best use of countless vivid and inspiring examples to illustrate that China’s development is its greatest contribution to the world in its own right and offers a Chinese approach to resolving problems confronting humanity.

We should carry out cultural and people-to-people exchanges with other countries in all forms and through all channels to promote mutual understanding and friendship. We will innovate our systems and mechanisms to turn our institutional, organizational and human resource strengths into strengths in communication. We need to better leverage the role of prominent experts and make their voices heard through platforms and channels such as major international conferences, forums and mainstream foreign media. All provincial authorities and central departments should make use of their unique features and strengths to present a vivid, colorful and multidimensional image of China.

We need to make our international discourse more effective and see that our communicators are competent and can adapt to the needs of international communication in the new era. We will step up theoretical research to better understand the rules governing international communication. We will establish a system for international communication, and improve our communication skills. To make our stories and voice more engaging and relevant, we must adopt an approach tailored to global, regional or specific audiences, and adapted to different regions, countries or groups of people. We need to make more friends, unite more people, and win more support. We need to expand the circle of friends who understand and have a positive view of China, and will speak up for China on the international stage. We must adopt the appropriate tactics and techniques to make our voice better heard on major issues.

Party committees and Party leadership groups at all levels should take capacity building for international communication as one of their key responsibilities. They should reinforce their organization and leadership and see that adequate funds are available and practical issues are solved to ensure that progress is made. Leading officials at all levels should personally engage in international communication; principal officials mandated for the job should be personally involved. They should receive training in international communication, and Party organizations at all levels should help create an atmosphere where all participants conscientiously uphold the dignity and image of the Party and the country. Party schools (academies of governance) should incorporate international communication skills in their curriculum. Colleges and universities should strengthen the development of academic disciplines related to international communication, train a corps of professionals, and undertake relevant theoretical research.

* Main points of the speech at the 30th group study session of the Political Bureau of the 19th CPC Central Committee.

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