China's Image in the People's Daily Newspaper on the Russian Platform VK

Chen' Chzhe ORCID: 0009-0009-2176-7650 PhD in Philology Postgraduate student; Institute of Higher School of Journalism and Mass Communications; St. Petersburg State University 462321, China, Henan Province, Luohe, Hanjiang St., Yunxinbojueshan zhe.chen@mail.ru

Introduction

The country's image is directly related to its international reputation and influence in the world. Chinese Secretary General Xi Jinping stressed: "It is necessary to pay attention to the formation of the national image of our country, focusing on the deep historical value of China, multinational harmony and cultural diversity as a civilization of a great power" (Zhao Huihui. Presenting the image of modern China to the world, A light diary. URL: http://www.qstheory.cn/qshyjx/2021-09/14/c_1127859005.htm. Date of request: 09/14/2021). Information technologies have significantly accelerated the process of globalization, creating global chains of economic interdependence, but they do not take into account the value diversity of countries within the framework of the national concept, which has theoretical and practical significance ^{[1, p. 160]}.

The media, focused on external economic relations, play an important role in the process of forming an international image. Since the 18th Congress of the Communist Party, China has significantly improved its economic position and competence in resolving international issues, but Western influence prevails in the structure of global communication ^{[2, p. 80]}. The current status quo requires China to strengthen its communication influence in the international arena in accordance with the country's economic potential. In the context of digitalization, there is a deep transformation of the traditional power base based on military and, accordingly, political and economic leadership ^{[3, p. 11]}. Today, digital platforms and social media are becoming tools that promote mutual understanding between different cultures and civilizations, facilitating their integration. User-generated content on social media provides new opportunities for cross-cultural communication and helps shape the country's image through new media.

With the deepening of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Russia, the formation of an international image corresponding to bilateral relations has become one of the urgent tasks of Chinese foreign economic media on Russian social media platforms, among which VK is one of the largest and most popular ^{[4, p. 96]}. To achieve this goal, influential Chinese media outlets such as the People's Daily have opened an official account on VK, where news content about China's achievements in the field of economics and culture is posted and distributed, and where a real and living China is presented to a Russian Internet user.

The purpose of this study is to conduct a content analysis of publications on the official verified account of "People's Daily" on the VK platform (People's Daily Online | China News) on the following topics: Sino-Russian cooperation, economic development, traditional culture and tourism in order to identify optimal communication strategies for shaping China's international image for the Russian audience and using live user content.

The theoretical framework of the study. Digitalization has made new media an important tool for promoting the international image of States. Unlike traditional media, new media have more interactivity and engagement, therefore, the linear model of international communication is transformed into an interactive one ^{[5, p. 55]}. Social media platforms, through user-generated content (UGC), blur the boundaries between addressee and addressee. The interactive horizontal structure of direct communication with users, enhanced by targeting algorithms, facilitates direct contact. this directly affects the formation of a positive international image of Qatar as an open and friendly country ^{[6, p. 24]}.

In addition to high interactivity, which allows users to participate in the communication process in real time, digital media have fragmentation, in which information is provided in short modular formats for simultaneous perception ^[7]. These properties significantly increase the circulation of information and form social communities of interests outside politics: culture, sports, education, leisure, etc. in the context of intercultural communication [8. p. 60].

The concept of intercultural communication was first proposed in Edward Hall's book The Silent Language, which states that "culture is communication, communication is culture" ^[9]. New media, being an infrastructure of international communication, can be used as a de-ideologized tool that implicitly integrates into the social context and thereby changes the historical process of social development ^{[10, p. 150]}. In other words, social media not only creates communication bridges between people with different cultural codes, but also establishes ideological connections at the cognitive level, which increases the receptivity of information and the effectiveness of its dissemination, providing more effective external communication ^{[11, p. 248]}.

When promoting Chinese traditional culture as a tool for shaping the country's image, the preferences of an external audience in methods and channels of content distribution are rarely taken into account ^{[12, p. 54]}. Due to differences in high-context Chinese and low-context Western culture (which the Russian audience has been focusing on for a long time), differences in the cognitive logic of Chinese and Western users, many Chinese outstanding works did not achieve the desired effect outside the country ^{[13, p. 15]}. Effective communication requires a deep understanding of the intercultural context, environmental influences, and compliance with the laws of communication ^[4]: analyzing the cultural code of the audience, basic values, and studying speech style to develop a communication strategy for image promotion through national traditional culture.

According to the theory of "use and satisfaction" ^[14] and the theory of "framing" ^{[15, p. 1093]}, matching content to the cultural background, values, or lifestyle of a particular social group promotes perception through identification and appropriate emotional response. For example, the Russian audience tends to appreciate historical heritage and feel national pride, so the People's Daily on the VK platform actualizes the historical continuity of Sino-Russian cooperation, enhancing cultural relevance and trust.

Case description

Since the creation of the VK platform in 2006, for the first quarter of 2024, the number of monthly active users has reached 89 million, which covers 88% of Internet users in Russia. The platform has been continuously improved over the past two decades: The functionality was expanded to audio and video formats, the ability to make payments, make phone calls, communicate in a messenger, and advertise, which made VK a multifunctional digital ecosystem. VK is the largest social platform in Russia and the CIS countries (VK's official website) and internationally among users with accounts on this network.

On this basis, in 2013, People's Daily opened an official VK account. — "People's Daily Online | China News", which currently has 519,000 subscribers. For comparison, the BBC account on VK has only 400,000 subscribers (the official BBC account on VK). To effectively use all the advantages of the digital platform, People's Daily publishes text news materials, photos and videos: about 5 posts are published daily.

In social networks, international news content in line with the "great narratives" has given way to personal stories and fascinating narratives, even when presenting a political agenda ^{[16, p. 75]}, focusing on the similarities and differences between the cultures of China and Russia, which contributes to the deepening of cultural ties and intercultural understanding between the peoples of the two countries ^[17]. Thus, People's Daily uses the entire communication palette of news in the fields of culture, economics, technology and leisure, presenting information in Russian and thereby enhancing localization.

Material analysis and research results

From January to September 2024, People's Daily published 1,839 posts, which is an average of 6.8 posts per day. These posts have accumulated a total of 12,146,680 views, which is an average of 44,988 views per day. The total number of comments was 16,497, and the average number of comments per post was 61. There were 12,420 reposts, with an average of 46 reposts per post. There were 165,174 likes, which is an average of 611 likes per post. The average monthly number of views was 1,349,631, the number of comments was 1,833 (an average of 8.97 comments per post), the number of reposts was 1,380 (an average of 6.75 reposts per post). The statistics obtained indicate a high level of user activity and involvement in communication with People's Daily on the VK platform. However, it is worth noting that the interaction rates in comments and reposts remain low, especially in reposts.

To increase engagement, you can suggest creating a common topic for discussion or using gamification elements, such as holding promotions with rewards for reposts. To prove the effectiveness of such methods of engagement, we present the results published in the article "Research on the distribution of People's Daily content on Russian social media" [18. p. 40], which provided data on the statistics of posts published in 2018. A comparison of 2018 and 2024 data shows a significant increase in audience engagement. In 2018, People's Daily published 2,557 posts with 2,787 comments, 9,895 reposts, and 1,47335 likes. In 2024, from January to September, the number of comments on a post increased by 8.22 times, reposts — by 1.74 times, and likes — by 1.54 times (see Table 1). This indicates an increase in the interest of the Russian audience due to external political circumstances and the general turn of Russia to the East in 2022 [19. p. 5].

Table 1. Comparison of the average statistics of People's Daily posts for 2018 and 2024

All posts published on the VK platform. They were in Russian, which highlights the strategy of fully localizing People's Daily's content on the Russian platform. This solution allows you to remove the language barrier and effectively interact with the Russian audience.

Content formats From January 1 to September 30, 2024, all content posted on the VK platform can be classified into the following formats:

posts with images and text: 1429 (76%)

posts with video and text: 304 (16%)

posts with text: 132 (7%)

posts with links and text: 14 (1%)

Posts with images and text remain the most popular format. The video format with text ranks second with 16%, reflecting the growing interest in multimedia formats.

Likes, reposts, and comments are indicators of audience interest in published content and a form of its promotion and distribution. Based on the analysis of the top 10 posts by the number of likes among all registered content in the People's Daily account, we have identified the following topics that have become the most attractive to Russian users:

(1) Dedication and mercy in crisis situations the post was dedicated to the selfless work of a surgeon from Xinjiang after the earthquake (1,427 likes), which attests to the common core values of Russian and Chinese society

(2) Technological achievements posts about the use of drones to extinguish fires (884 likes) and about the Chinese lunar mission Chang'e-6 (712 likes). This indicates the growing interest of Russian and Chinese society in cooperation in the field of aerospace and engineering technologies.

(3) posts about Xi Jinping's visit to Serbia (573 likes) and participation in tree planting (783 likes), meetings of the top officials of Russia and China (393 likes), for example, on May 14, the People's Daily wrote, Putin will pay a state visit to China. At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay a state visit to China from May 16 to 17. This was announced on Tuesday by the official representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Hua Chunying,"and many users wrote comments in this post, demonstrating a high interest in the diplomatic activity of the Chinese leadership in the context of relations with Russia.

(4) Cultural exchange and leisure practices posts about the beginning of the Year of the Dragon (837 likes), the Katyusha flash mob in Harbin (864 likes) prove that entertainment and leisure content contributes to the high involvement of Russian users in Chinese media discourse.

Thematic analysis of the People's Daily account

For thematic classification and keyword allocation for each topic, 1,839 posts published on the People's Daily (VK) account were analyzed using the LDA (Latent Dirichlet Allocation) method. The results of the analysis are shown in the graph (Fig. 1).

Figure 1. Thematic graph and keywords (according to LDA data)

Based on the ratios of the four highlighted topics and keywords, we will formulate communication tracks for their dissemination.:

Track 1. International cooperation.

Keywords: China, cooperation, two countries, Xi Jinping, Russia, Kazakhstan.

The purpose of the publications is to demonstrate China as an active and responsible participant in global processes and promote the country's image as a peaceful and stable global leader.

Track 2. Economic development and technological achievements:

Keywords: development, economy, technology, strategy, production, market, enterprises.

Purpose of publications: strengthening China's image as a global economic leader and a center of technological innovation.

Track 3. National culture and basic values:

Keywords: culture, events, traditions, peace, people, holding, guests, cultural heritage.

The purpose of the publications is to preserve and disseminate cultural heritage, increase the attractiveness of Chinese culture and strengthen its image as a civilization, and build bridges with other countries.

Track 4. Tourism and cooking

Keywords: tourism, tourists, growth, companies, international, Xinjiang, products.

The purpose of the publications is to attract international tourists to China, to position the attractions of Chinese regions and the peculiarities of local cuisine.

The selected thematic tracks and the ways they are presented meet the expectations of the Russian audience. The topic of bilateral cooperation and diplomacy reflects the strategic importance of Sino-Russian relations. The economic and technological development of China, as well as the promotion of Chinese culture, help to form a positive image of the country as a center of progress and cultural wealth ^{[20, p. 160]}. Topics with an emphasis on personal stories in the context of crisis situations resonate with Russian users due to similar life circumstances.

The main problems of promoting People's Daily content on the VK platform are related to two factors. The first factor is the language barrier. Some published videos with Chinese subtitles or background dubbing may cause mechanical and semantic difficulties in perceiving information. In addition, due to the Chinese cultural specifics, some topics are not able to evoke an emotional response from the Russian audience. This factor largely explains the second one: the lack of a fan base. The average number of comments (8.97) and reposts (6.75) per post is relatively low. Most users show superficial participation, limiting themselves to likes or reposts, but they do not move on to deep discussions or emotional connections with the content and do not become regular subscribers.

Conclusions

The analysis of the content in the People's Daily account on the VR platform allowed us to make the following recommendations on optimizing communication strategies for promoting China's image to the Russian audience: to enhance engagement by raising problematic issues, creating discussion topics, or encouraging reposts in the gamification format; create videos on culture, scientific innovation, and behavior in crisis situations; and reduce the number of longreads.

In general, People's Daily's communication strategies on the VK platform have proven their effectiveness. The content on Chinese politics, economics, culture, and technology has been adapted for the Russian audience, which has helped to create a positive image of China.

People's Daily actively uses psychological identity mechanisms, which helps establish a stable connection with the Russian audience.