The aim of this study is to compare how Chinese and foreign (English-language) scientific discourses in the field of regional image have developed and to identify topics for future research directions. The subject of the research includes the structural and dynamic characteristics of the phenomenon being studied, including publication activity, the level of institutional cooperation, high-frequency keywords and thematic clusters, as well as differences between the two language corpora. The results of the research can be used for planning scientific and educational projects within the framework of state or university policy. The article examines research from 421 scientific publications in CNKI (Electronic platform of information resources China National Knowledge Infrastructure), data on publications in Web of Science and Scopus from 2015 to 2025. During the study, the authors relied on data selection and processing methods, cluster and co-keyword analysis, statistical data analysis, quantitative analysis of publications, and their qualitative interpretation; a comparative analysis was conducted. In addition, maps were constructed, and the density of interaction among authors and research institutions was calculated using CiteSpace. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that this is the first systematic comparative bibliometric analysis of Chinese and English-language publications in the field of regional image over the past ten years. The results show a significant increase in the number of publications since 2020, with research institutions mainly concentrated in journalism schools and multidisciplinary universities, while inter-agency cooperation remains weak. Scientific literature in Chinese focuses on urban image and local issues, whereas English-language literature is based on social networks and demonstrates interdisciplinary integration. Chinese-language publications in this area are linked to the development of media technologies and focus on phenomena related to the strategic level, while English-language studies evolve from basic concepts to classical topics and return to core concepts. Future research should prioritize interdisciplinary cooperation and deeper integration of theory and methodology.
Yang et al. (Mon,) studied this question.