Challenges of and Innovative Strategies for Telling China’s Story under the New Situation: A Perspective Based on COVID-19 and Corpus-Assisted Analysis

Abstract

Effectively narrating China’s story and constructing a discourse system for Chinese-style modernization are essential requirements of the era for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. This study employs Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework and the text analysis software AntConc 4.2.4 to examine 2,092 COVID-19-related reports on China published by five major media outlets in New Zealand, South Africa, and Thailand from December 2019 to August 2024. By comparing the attitudes and variations in media coverage of China before and after the pandemic, the research offers innovative strategies for better narrating China’s story and advancing the development of an international discourse system aligned with Chinese-style modernization.