Media frames of China’s poverty alleviation: the case of The New York Times

International media coverage of China’s poverty alleviation efforts represents a significant phenomenon in contemporary global development discourse. This study investigates how The New York Times constructs representations of the Chinese government’s poverty alleviation through corpus-based Critical Discourse Analysis of 254 articles spanning 2013-2023. Employing keyword analysis, collocation examination, and modal verb investigation, the research examines consistent linguistic patterns in NYT’s coverage strategies. The findings reveal discourse construction patterns in which simultaneous factual reporting coexists with evaluative positioning, contributing to a nuanced understanding of media representation beyond binary evaluative frameworks. The analysis demonstrates how lexical choices, grammatical structures, and headline framing patterns function coherently to shape interpretive possibilities for international audiences. These results contribute to understanding media discourse power in cross-cultural contexts and provide insights for international communication practice.