Tang poetry displayed at the National Museum of China in Beijing Photo: Yang Lanlan/CSST

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Since its inception in 2017, the “Tell China’s Stories” International Creative Communication Contest has attracted over 50 million individuals from home and abroad, amassing nearly 155,000 submissions. The topic has garnered over 300 million views on mainstream social media platforms both domestically and internationally, reaching an audience of over 500 million people.  

Recently, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) released the 2022–2023 report on the international communication effectiveness index, which focuses on the relational perspective between Chinese stories and international audiences. The report examines the five narrative elements of people, events, objects, scenes, and perspectives mentioned in the international communication field, and reveals the effectiveness rankings of China’s stories in international communication. By comparing differences in the mirror image narrative of Chinese stories by self and others, it seeks to improve the international communication efficiency of Chinese stories.

Topics of concern

“The key to good storytelling is to be able to tell Chinese stories well in different times and spaces,” said Chen Xianhong, director of the Institute for Creative Communication of the Chinese Story at HUST. First of all, telling traditional cultural stories promotes Chinese cultural values and enhances cultural attractiveness. Meanwhile, modern Chinese stories offer a fresh portrayal of China’s development in the new era, highlighting the vitality of the Chinese nation and the creativity of Chinese culture. In addition, opening-up themed stories in the context of globalization demonstrate China’s role as a responsible major country, and serve as manifestations of the attractiveness of international cooperation and the credibility of Chinese culture.

Tang Runhua, a professor from Dalian University of Foreign Languages, highlighted the necessity of balancing the relations between speech and action, individuality and commonalities, what you want to say and what readers want to hear, and the reporting of good and bad news. Tang suggested centering on the common concerns of mankind, specifically, issues of widespread international concern and issues that significantly impact human society, the international community, and the vital interests of the people and their daily lives. By adhering to the principles of international communication and understanding the information needs and media consumption habits of foreign audiences, greater efforts should be made to tell Chinese stories in an accessible format and cater to the various information needs of foreign audiences regarding China.

Good stories often proceed from the perspective of life, facilitating cross-cultural storytelling in localized contexts, enhancing empathy through everyday scenarios, and viewing “grand spectacles” from “little incisions.” Sun Modi, director of the journal center at the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies, exemplified storytelling rooted in daily life, from the perspective of ordinary people, using straightforward language and a modest approach. 

Digital communication

The internet represents a non-negligible shift in human communication activities. In virtual knowledge communities, knowledge sharers seek “the sharing of us,” but more often than not encounter “the sharing of others.” In this mutual state of  “otherness,” is it possible for Chinese knowledge sharing to achieve reciprocity? To this end, Shan Bo, a professor from the School of Journalism and Communication at Wuhan University, concluded, after conducting research on the SNS Q&A platform Quora, that in essence, China’s knowledge sharing has constituted a typical issue of intercultural dynamics. Shan called for starting “from the other,” and avoiding being affected by personal preferences. Only by seeing and understanding the other, can we construct a multi-dimensional vision of culture.

 “The vitality and risk of group gathering and communication coexist,” said Sui Yan, a professor from the School of Journalism at Communication University of China. On the one hand, the great abundance of information and the high degree of liberalization of communication bring vitality to society, shaping new social dynamics and landscapes, and expanding the dynamic mechanism of subjectivity. The new era has witnessed the gradual rise of subject consciousness and the cultivation of public empathy. On the other hand, the uncertainty of information sources, the rapid flow of information, and the intertextuality of communication also amplify social risks.

In order to cope with the challenges of the digital divide and information imbalance, Chen Hong, a professor from the School of Communication at East China Normal University, is striving to build an innovative model of international strategic communication mechanisms in the context of digital culture by clarifying the traits and evolving trends within the field. 

Edited by YANG LANLAN