China’s global image improves
Survey finds countries impressed by strict Party self-governance
China’s overall global image is steadily improving and the Communist Party of China (CPC) has earned the image of “full and strict self-governance,” showed a global survey on China’s national image revealed on Friday.
The report, “2016-2017, China National Image Global Survey,” said overseas respondents were generally impressed by the “full and strict selfgovernance” of the CPC, its “exceptional organization and mobilization abilities” and “strong power to unite.” The report was released in Beijing on Friday.
“More people in developing countries than in developed countries thought that the CPC is ‘enjoying the people’s support’ and ‘having impressive learning and innovation abilities,’” the report added.
Cheng Manli, deputy dean of Peking University’s School of Journalism and Communication, told the Global Times on Friday that “foreigners are impressed by the CPC’s efforts to fight corruption, which target not only flies but also tigers and have achieved some effect.”
Overall, overseas respondents, especially those in
developing countries, attributed China’s rapid development to its development path and model. They were also impressed by the dominant position of the State-owned economy in this path and model, read the report.
This is the fifth global survey of China’s national image and was jointly conducted by the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration’s Center for International Communication Studies, Kantar Millward Brown, a global research agency and Lightspeed, a digital data collection company from March to June in 2017.
The survey interviewed citizens of 22 countries in Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Oceania and Africa. With 500 respondents from each country, a total of 11,000 respondents selected from the global panel of Lightspeed Research were included in this survey. The survey was conducted through online questionnaires and strictly followed the international standards for online polls, Peng Yan, a director from Kantar Millward Brown, told a press conference on Friday.
Positive reviews
The report also showed that China’s overall international image is steadily improving.
China has seen a steady rise in its image in recent years. In terms of performance in global and domestic affairs, China got a score of 6.5 and 6.2 points out of 10, respectively, showing more recognition of its ability to handle international affairs. China ranked behind the US, and was followed by Russia, Germany and the UK.
“China’s overall national image has been enhanced under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core since the Party’s 18th National Congress,” Wang Gangyi, deputy director of the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration, said at the news conference.
“As socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, we are tasked with shaping China’s national image and presenting it to the rest of the world,” Wang noted.
Wang Wen, executive dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, said on Friday that “data from the report also showed China’s achievements in economic development and science, as well as fields that need to be improved, including environmental protection.”
Cheng of Peking University said the report also showed that China has a greater initiative in showing its image to the world.
“Foreigners once got to know about China from Western media news reports or information from their governments, which might be biased or misrepresented,” Cheng said, “But China has since taken various measures to promote overseas publicity activities, use social media or other channels to exchange ideas with young people overseas and conduct cultural and educational exchanges with other countries. These moves help overseas residents know more about China.”
Other findings of the survey included wider recognition of China’s economic influence, more confidence in its future and higher expectations of it becoming the world’s largest economy.