The ability to dictate the terms of discourse is an essential component of national power. While China’s growing hard power is evidenced by the increased international scrutiny of its every move, it needs to counter biased perceptions in other countries to build global influence and strengthen its soft power.

China’s share of the international market for cultural products is smaller relative to that of developed countries, and its products have limited added value. In the context of global communication, people often observe the world and interpret culture through reports of local media and influential foreign media.

Despite the contributions China has made to the world, its development continues to be subjected to criticism because the West controls the narrative. The image of China remains threatening, barbarous and frightening in Western media reports. These opinions are based on the logic that the strong will necessarily bully the weak and a distortion of history, which ultimately obscures the picture of China as it really is.

Cultures of the world have relatively different methods of expression, values and thoughts, which means that misunderstandings are inevitable in cultural exchanges. The “Chinese Dream,” for example, is an expression with profound connotations in Chinese discourse. It implies a prosperous country and a happy populace as well as the great revitalization of the nation. But the expression is usually simplified to “the nation’s dream” and “the government’s dream” in foreign reports, which intensifies the bias by greatly weakening the focus on the “people,” let alone the nation’s spirit of perseverance.

Therefore, the West’s influential information products, Eurocentrism and distortion impede the expression of China’s voice while the media fail to interpret contemporary values of China’s model. It sabotages the effort to promote a more positive image and increase the global status of China.

In addition to their tendency to defer excessively to Western discourse, Chinese media agencies in general are incompetent and react slowly to events. When there is need to illustrate key concepts and issues, some communicate ineffectively and fall victim to rigid thinking.

Lacking an understanding of the culture, model and path of the country, Chinese media are rarely able to successfully articulate the standpoint of China. They are incapable of accurate abstract description and evaluation based on history and real conditions. This cedes the power of discourse to the West, further magnifying distortions.

Meanwhile, the goal of “making culture go global” turns into “making culture integrated into the world” due to an insufficient understanding of the features of the target culture and psychology of the public. A large number of Chinese cultural products emphasize collectivism and magnificent narration rather than depictions of common individuals with values and a free spirit, which better fits the tastes of international audiences.

To keep pace with the rapid expansion of communication channels, it is urgent to increase the influence of China’s discourse because the advantages of Chinese culture have not been reflected. Political scientist Joseph Nye, who put forward the concept of soft power, argued that its most important element is the ability to assimilate. Generally, the culture of powerful countries may attract more attention. China has a large media industry but it lacks a world-class media, putting it at a disadvantage in the contest of public opinion.

In such an atmosphere, a system of Chinese discourse based on Chinese history and reality is necessary to earn the understanding, trust and respect of the international community.

Reporters should create new opportunities for cultural communication by learning socialism with Chinese characteristics, thus building a theoretical foundation of the discourse system.

Chinese media should independently respond to current events, breaking the bounds of Western rules and discourse limits. They should use rhetoric that displays Chinese characteristics, wisdom and style.

More analysis of cultural psychology, ways of thinking and language habits is needed to cater to target audiences, so that diversification and internalization can be realized. Members of the media also should integrate different channels to make cultural communication more fluent.

The discourse system should be effect oriented while addressing the balance of time, effect and measurements. This would enable a distinct standpoint to be persuasively expressed. Meanwhile, construction of overarching narratives and descriptions of minute details should be equally emphasized. More than being the storyteller, Chinese media should have a nose for valuable opinions in foreign reports.

In this way, a real, multi-dimensional and comprehensive image of China will come into being.

Meng Wei is a research fellow from the Institute of Journalism and Communication Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.