The stories of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which became a centenarian party in 2021, are important window to know about China. In recent years, there have been a surge in publications, discussions and films on the Party that started with just about 50 members in 1921 to become a behemoth with more than 96 million members today, leading a nation of 1.4 billion people to build a modern socialist country in all respects after the completion of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects in 2021. The renewed focus is on the CPC’s leadership, policies and international cooperation.
The CPC International Image Innovation Forum, held virtually on December 20, 2022, explored the CPC’s international image communication with officials, experts and journalists discussing how to tell the stories of the CPC’s new journey. The new mission is to achieve the second national goal of building China into a modern socialist country by 2049, the centenary of the People’s Republic of China.
Officials and experts participating in the opening ceremony of the CPC International Image Innovation Forum via video link on December 20, 2022.
Yu Tao, vice president of the China International Communications Group, highlighted the importance of making the international community know well about the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, which, now, is the key to understand China. Yu said the significance of Chinese modernization should be explained to the international community. The concept of Chinese modernization, proposed by President Xi Jinping at the last national congress of the Party, has five important features: It is the modernization of a huge population, aiming to achieve common prosperity for all, with modern material and cultural-ethical advancement. It also means harmony between humanity and nature, and peaceful development.
Hu Zhaoming, spokesperson of the CPC Central Committee’s International Department, said while disseminating the Party’s image internationally, the Party’s governance experience should be highlighted. The developing countries can be targeted as basic audience, with non-traditional media and non-English media as important channels of communication. Foreign political parties should also be heavily involved in international communication about the CPC’s image.
Wu Di, a documentary director with Xinhua News Agency, gave the example of a documentary that shows the tangible results of China’s involvement in infrastructure building in Africa, which had been questioned by many Western and local media. My Railway, My Story is a three-part documentary by Xinhua that records the construction of the Chinese-built Mombasa-Nairobi Railway in Kenya. The 472-km standard gauge railway with 79 bridges and 33 stations is a vital part of Kenya’s transportation and economic development today. The 90-minute documentary was screened six times on Kenyan television. Wu said it used the micro perspective of 14 people who were involved in the construction and operation of the railway to provide an authentic insight into the project.
Red Star Over China: A New Journey released in May 2022 was also an innovative means of communication. Based on American reporter Edgar Snow’s milestone book in 1937, Red Star Over China, that gave a firsthand account of the rise of the fledgling Party, three foreigners living in China re-traced the journey of the Red Army, the forerunner of the People’s Liberation Army. The trio went on the route of the Long March, the epic historical retreat of the Red Army to regroup from 1934 to 1936.
Li Yi, general director of the documentary, called it a dialogue between history and the present, as well as communication between different cultures to analyze China’s current situation. The three foreigners’ research on that period of history and their experiences of local life and work along the road was a significant way to convey to foreign audiences how China and the CPC were able to make such historical achievements.
A Long Cherished Dream, directed by Oscar-winning British documentary maker Malcolm Clarke, was also held up as an example of communicating the China story effectively. Released in July 2021, the four-episode documentary focuses on the stories of four ordinary individuals to convey China’s dramatic changes into a moderately prosperous society. The four include a woman truck driver, an acrobat, an entrepreneur, and the secretary of a village branch of the CPC. Wu Xiaoyang, producer of China Review Studio, which presented the docuseries, called it a successful exploration of the domestic-international co-production model.
The forum also held a global premiere of Navigating to the Future, a five-episode docuseries. Produced by the Information Office of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, China Review Studio, and Mango TV, it tells the story of Chinese modernization from the grassroot level.
Poster for Navigating to the Future. Photos courtesy of the China Center for International Communication Development
