BEIJING – This week, the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) met to study an important subject – strengthening the country’s international communication.
Chairing the group study session, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, said the issue is imperative as it is conducive to creating a favorable external environment for China’s reform, development and stability, as well as actively contributing to building a community with a shared future for humanity.
Xi urged efforts to develop a voice in international discourse that matches with China’s comprehensive national strength and international status, presenting a true, multi-dimensional and panoramic view of the country.
RIGHT TIME
The group study came just days after Xi sent a congratulatory message to China Daily on its 40th anniversary, calling on the newspaper to innovate its approach to better communicate with international readers, establish an all-media communication framework and build a high-caliber team, so as to expand its global influence and better introduce China’s development philosophy, path and achievements.
Observers said the timing of the two events shows the importance of improving China’s international communication capacity.
While China’s achievements have won acknowledgments globally, there are still people who do not know much about the country, with some even holding misunderstandings or bias about China, observers noted.
“People [in the West] have a lot of ideological and cultural obstacles to grasp the real meaning and essence of the rise of China,” said Zhang Weiwei, a professor at the Shanghai-based Fudan University.
“It is in the interest of the West itself to understand China,” said Zhang, who took part in the CPC leadership’s group study on Monday.
He also called on both China and the West to improve their approach involving dialogue and deepen mutual understanding.
As China is moving closer to the world’s center stage, more and more people are interested in the country, the observers said. The ideas of China need to be communicated in a better way to make China’s voice heard and better understood.
THE WAY FORWARD
At the group study session, Xi offered his insights into key areas to bolster China’s international communication.
Greater efforts are needed to build China’s own discourse and narrative, interpreting China’s practices by its own theories.
He underlined the importance of using new concepts, domains and expressions to better tell China’s stories and the spiritual strength behind the stories.
Regarding the CPC’s publicity drive, Xi called for efforts to help foreign audiences understand that what the Party pursues is the well-being of Chinese people. Efforts must be made to help foreigners know how the CPC can get things done, why Marxism works and why socialism with Chinese characteristics is good.
He demanded more theoretical research surrounding China’s spirit, values and strength in political, economic, cultural, social and ecological domains to support international communication.
Xi stressed adopting a narrative tone that reflects openness and confidence, yet conveys modesty and humility, in a bid to shape a reliable, admirable and respectable image of China.
He also emphasized extensively promoting China’s stand, wisdom and approach, as the country has the ability as well as the responsibility to play a bigger role in global affairs and make greater contributions to jointly solving problems of humanity with other countries.
He said multilateralism must be promoted while unilateralism and hegemonism should be opposed so as to guide the international community to jointly shape a more just and equitable international order and forge a new type of international relations.
Xi said there is a wealth of vivid and evocative stories to be told.
“The cases can help explain that China’s development per se is what it contributes the most to the world and where China contributes its wisdom to solving issues concerning humanity,” he added.
Xi also called for carrying out various people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries, turning China’s institutional, organizational and human-resource strength into communication advantages, leveraging the role of high-level experts and using international conferences and other channels.
In order to achieve better results, Xi underscored the need for a stronger team of capable professionals who can meet the requirements for international communication in the new era, as well as strategies targeting audiences from different groups, countries and regions. – Xinhua
