"This cutting edge book explores the role of the media in the highly disputed area of China-Africa relations, notably how various aspects of the issue have been portrayed, negotiated and contested in media and academic discourses. As Africa's biggest trading partner and creditor, China explores Afri ... ca not only as a marketplace for importing primary commodities and exporting manufactured goods, but also as a preferred testing ground for its media and telecommunication sector aspiring for further internationalization. At a time when the influence from Global North has been on the wane in the continent, emerging powers are regarded as new inspirations for Africa's development. China in particular tries to bolster multipolarity in Africa by factoring in media influence and facilitating the digitalization process of the continent. This book offers an up-to-date geopolitical analysis of China-Africa, examining the role of communication and telecommunication in the power shift, especially in constructing social and cultural realities in which the idea of "development" has been recurrently redefined and negotiated in the public domain. This volume tackles the issue from the new perspective of mediatization, considering how the media on the one hand shapes public opinion with its narratives and a logic of its own, and on the other hand simultaneously becomes an integrated part of other institutions like politics, trade, business as more of these institutional activities are performed through both interactive and mass media." (Publisher description) more

"China is currently implementing a full-fledged ‘Going ¸Global’ strategy, particularly in Africa. Chinese engagement on the continent is all pervasive and spearheaded by summit conferences and flanked by a surge of Chinese state-own media houses and state-funded cultural institutions. This repo ... rt seeks to contextualize the Chinese media and culture policies and to examine their ideological constituents. An important component of ‘soft power’ as understood by Chinese policymakers is to utilize non-governmental forces, and build citizen diplomacy. Thus mobilizing and educating the Chinese about the strategic importance of Africa has been on the government’s agenda. The report discriminates between various narratives on China-Africa relations and issues emerging from the Chinese press from 2002 to 2011. The conclusion drawn from examining this half-orchestrated, half freestyle media chorus is that, China has been employing domestic media to engage public support to buttress its expansion in Africa." (Abstract) more

"The discussion of soft power in China can be dated back to 1992, the year Nye's Bound to lead was translated into Chinese and published in Mainland China. Chinese scholars urged that restrictions on civil society be lifted, since China's lack of voluntary associations and NGOs drastically hindered ... the development of citizen diplomacy that could serve as a critical agency in building up China's soft power. In recent years, China's strategic moves in building up soft power in Africa have been well documented, yet it still takes the engagement of Chinese society to eventually exercise that power. In the process of engaging the public, the media play a central role, which is what this article examines. The authors summarise various aspects of China's involvement in Africa since the turn of the century in relation to value sharing and co-identity building, then do a textual analysis of how Chinese media present Africa to their audiences." (Abstract) more