This article examines how Chinese culture is represented in leading Russian media from 2019 to 2025. The study focuses on discrepancies in cultural framing strategies found in media texts from three publications: Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Kommersant, and Komsomolskaya Pravda. The analysis shows that official and business media construct an institutionalized and modernized image of China, integrating cultural elements into narratives of diplomacy, global governance, economic cooperation, and technological development. Such framing positions China as a strategic partner and an influential global actor. In contrast, the entertainment press emphasizes festive, everyday, and partially exoticized cultural aspects, adapting representations to the preferences of mass audiences and highlighting visual appeal, traditional practices, and cultural routines. These differences illustrate the multilayered nature of Russian media discourse and demonstrate that China’s image is shaped by each outlet’s genre and target readership. Methodologically, the study employs a comprehensive approach combining corpus linguistic analysis, statistical procedures, and comparative discourse analysis of media texts. The research’s novelty lies in its integrative examination of how various segments of the Russian media sphere construct Chinese cultural imagery, blending elements of tradition, modernization, and diplomatic positioning. The findings reveal that official and business media prioritize institutional and globally oriented cultural narratives, while entertainment media foreground accessible, aesthetically engaging, and everyday cultural motifs. Chinese culture thus functions in Russian discourse both as an instrument of soft power for elite audiences and as a mass-market cultural product. The study’s practical significance consists in demonstrating the need to diversify cultural coverage in Russian media and to promote hybrid forms of cultural diplomacy that connect traditional heritage with contemporary cultural and political contexts.
Ruogu Ouyang (Thu,) studied this question.