How China can win friends and influencers to help tell the country’s story well

South China Morning PostCenter-RightEN 1 min read 100% complete by Vanessa CaiMarch 12, 2026 at 09:00 AM

AI Summary

short article 1 min

A Chinese political advisor, Zhang Bo, suggests leveraging tourists, international students, and foreign employees as "grass-roots ambassadors" to improve China's global image. Speaking at the annual "two sessions" meeting, Zhang highlighted the potential of digitally connected international students to share their positive experiences in China through social media. She believes their authentic, firsthand accounts can resonate strongly with young audiences worldwide. This proposal aligns with President Xi Jinping's call to enhance China's soft power and "tell the China story well," as Beijing seeks to promote its perspectives on the world stage. The suggestion comes as China continues to invest in efforts to shape its international narrative.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Chinese Foreign Minister 40% South China Morning Post 50% Xi Jinping 60% Beijing Language and Culture University 60% Beijing ×270% Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference 70% Zhang Bo ×290% China ×4100%

Keywords

china's story 100% soft power 80% international students 70% public diplomacy 60% social media 60% grass-roots ambassadors 50% foreign employees 40% tourists 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Neutral

Score: 0.10

Source Transparency

Source

South China Morning Post

Political Lean

Center-Right (0.50)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

Topic Connections

Explore how the topics in this article connect to other news stories

Network visualization showing 2 related topics

View Full Graph

china's story soft power international students public diplomacy social media grass-roots ambassadors foreign employees tourists

Explore Full Topic Graph

Find Similar Articles

AI-Powered

Discover articles with similar content using semantic similarity analysis.