ABSTRACT
China has always placed great importance on communication and relationship building with the outside world, even more so after its economic reform during the country’s transition from an isolated authoritarian regime into a more engaged global stakeholder. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines various forms of China’s global communication, their impacts and reception in different regions of the world, as well as the representation of China in international discourses. It examines the state social media outlets at provincial as well as prefectural levels as platforms that contribute to the narratives of China to the world as a whole. The book examines and compares the narratives of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ social media accounts for domestic and for international audiences during the era of the COVID-19 pandemic.
