Information and communication technologies and China’s international communication to the world
- Debao Xiang Beijing Foreign Studies University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3828-9204
- Weihan Cai Shanghai International Studies University https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7498-2305
Abstract
Over four decades, ICT rapidly proliferated in China, transforming, and reshaping the country’s international communication in theory and practice. In parallel with economic achievements after the reform and opening-up, China aspires to enhance accordingly its international influence, thus requiring its media to emerge on the global stage. The article suggests that ICT plays a significant role in driving Chinese media’s global outreach, thereby enhancing soft power and improving its national image. Against the backdrop of continuous hegemony and unbalance in the global communication networks, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) launched by China aims to benefit developing countries in the Global South by constructing ICT infrastructures. Following the practice, the concept of a Community of Shared Future for Mankind was advanced to promote multilateral cooperation and better communication. China shoulders unprecedented responsibilities in an increasingly multipolar world where a new global communication order is expected.
Author Biographies
Xiang Debao is a professor at the School of International Journalism and Communication at Beijing Foreign Studies University, and the director of the International Public Opinion and Global Governance Research Center. He has been a Fulbright Senior Visiting Scholar in the United States, a Shanghai Pujiang Talent, and an Outstanding Academic Leader at Beijing Foreign Studies University. He received a doctorate from the School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University and Macquarie University in Australia, and a visiting scholar at the University of Southern California and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He serves as the executive director of the Computational Communication Research Committee of the Chinese Journalism History Society and the executive director of the Chinese Communication Society. He specializes in international communication, international public opinion, computational communication, and discourse research. He has published more than 70 academic papers in Chinese and English professional journals.
Master student at Shanghai International Studies University’s School of Journalism and Communication. His research interests revolve around computational communication, political communication, and social media.
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