This article examines the strategies used by China Global Television Network (CGTN) to construct China’s international image through its English-language broadcasting. The study is situated within the context of intensifying competition in the global information environment, where states increasingly employ international media as instruments of soft power. The aim of the research is to identify how CGTN produces a favorable national narrative and to assess the structural limitations of this communication strategy. Methodologically, the study combines qualitative textual analysis of CGTN content with interpretive engagement with existing scholarship, drawing on framing theory and Joseph Nye’s concept of soft power. The empirical material consists of 50 news reports and special segments broadcast by CGTN English between 2020 and 2024. The analysis focuses on the dominant frames through which political meanings are embedded in cultural, economic, and technological storytelling. The findings indicate that CGTN has shifted from a model of direct propaganda to a more sophisticated “soft-sell” approach that emphasizes development, cultural representation, and global cooperation in order to normalize China’s rise as that of a responsible international actor. However, the effectiveness of this strategy is constrained by a “credibility paradox”: despite professionalization and globalized presentation, the channel’s state affiliation limits audience trust, particularly in Western contexts. The study concludes that CGTN contributes to diversifying the global media agenda and strengthening China’s discursive presence, yet its capacity to transform entrenched perceptions remains gradual and uneven, highlighting both the potential and the limits of state-sponsored international broadcasting as a tool of strategic communication.
黃雅歆 (Wed,) studied this question.