Framing China's National Image in Global Media: A Systematic Literature Review
Abstract
Amid intensifying global debates about China's role on the world stage, scholarly interest in how media construct China's national image has grown significantly. This article presents a systematic review of scholarly English-language research on the media construction of China's national image over the past decade, with a particular emphasis on framing strategies, theoretical developments, and broader research trends. Drawing on a PRISMA-based review framework, the study systematically identified and screened relevant literature published between January 2014 and March 2025, ultimately including 22 peer-reviewed journal articles for full-text analysis. The findings show that media representations of China are closely shaped by major geopolitical developments, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Belt and Road Initiative, and evolving China–US relations, which influence both framing strategies and narrative emphasis. Rather than merely reflecting events, media coverage often reinforces underlying ideological positions through selective representation. Additionally, there has been a clear shift in research paradigms from traditional perspectives such as soft power and public diplomacy towards more critical approaches, including framing theory and critical discourse analysis. However, existing research remains largely focused on Western mainstream media, with limited engagement with cross-national differences and transnational media contexts, constraining a more comprehensive understanding of how competing narratives shape global perceptions of China. While the literature has advanced knowledge of media representations, notable gaps persist in theoretical pluralism, methodological diversity, and the analysis of communicative outcomes. The article therefore calls for more comparative and context-sensitive approaches in future research on global media communication.
Keywords: China's national image, framing theory, media studies, media communication, systematic literature review.
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