Public Diplomacy and Image Building: A Case of China

This paper examines the relationship between China’s public diplomacy and image building in the United States, and the subsequent impact on China’s foreign policy in the U.S. and in some other parts of the world. As the second largest economy in the world today, China is playing an increasingly important role in the global arena. China’s weight is felt not only in economics and business, but also in politics and international relations. With the growing influence China exerts on global issues, China also feels the necessity to create a better image for itself on the world stage. While specific figures are hard to obtain, by any estimate, China has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in the past few years on promoting China and projecting a positive image of itself to the world. The aggressive public diplomacy campaigns are launched on multiple fronts and in different countries around the world. Examples include promotional visual campaigns in Times Square in New York City, the launch of the China Xinhua News Network Corporation in the United States, and the establishment of the Confucius Institutes around the globe. We explore all these examples in our analysis