Constructing China’s National Image in China Daily’s “Dual Carbon” News Discourse: An Ecological Discourse Analysis Perspective

Chunmei Nong

doi:10.54097/2jqrdy70

Authors

Chunmei Nong Guilin University of Technology, 541006, China

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54097/2jqrdy70

Keywords:

Ecological discourse analysis; dual carbon; news discourse; national image; China Daily.

Abstract

Against the backdrop of deepening global climate change governance, the "dual carbon" goals have become an important topic in China’s participation in global ecological governance. Drawing on the perspective of ecological discourse analysis, this study takes news reports on the "dual carbon" theme from China Daily as the corpus source, constructs a specialized corpus, and employs AntConc 3.5.9 to examine the linguistic features of the news discourse from three dimensions: high-frequency content words, lexical co-occurrence patterns, and the collocation patterns of the word "China," so as to explore how these features construct China’s national image. The findings reveal that China Daily constructs a semantic network centered on climate governance by focusing on carbon governance and green development issues; through the typical collocations of "China" in different grammatical structures, it forms a narrative chain linking commitment, action, and planning; the overall discourse exhibits a constructive ecological discourse orientation, highlighting a sense of responsibility, policy execution capability, and an orientation toward international cooperation. These discourse strategies jointly shape a national image of China as responsible, action-oriented, and forward-looking, reflecting China’s active role and discursive aspirations in global climate governance. The results provide empirical evidence from a corpus linguistics perspective for national image construction in the international communication of ecological issues.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

[1] Zhou, X. (2023). The construction of China’s national image in dual carbon discourse of domestic mainstream media: A corpus-based positive discourse analysis. Journal of Southwest Jiaotong University (Social Sciences Edition), 24(4), 12-25.

[2] Bai, Y. (2026). External communication and national image construction. Nankai University.

[3] Li, K. (2005). Global media events and the construction and communication of national image [Doctoral dissertation]. Fudan University.

[4] Martin, I. M., & Eroglu, S. (1993). Measuring a multi-dimensional construct: Country image. Journal of Business Research, 28(3), 191-210.

[5] Barich, H., & Kotler, P. (2016). A framework for marketing management. Sloan Management Review, 32(2), 94-104.

[6] Boulding, K. (1959). National images and international systems. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 3(2), 120-131.

[7] Mazze, R. S., Lucido, D. P., & Shamoon, H. (1984). Psychological and social correlates of glycemic control. Diabetes Care, 7(4), 360.

[8] Li, M. (2026). The construction of China’s national image under globalization. Southwest University of Political Science and Law.

[9] Zhang, Y., & Chen, L. (2010). Risk society: The unbearable weight of media: The influence of news reporting on the pseudo-environment. Youth Journal, (10), 2.

[10] Bao, S. (2007). The evolution and reconstruction of Chinese cultural security in the process of globalization [Doctoral dissertation]. East China Normal University.

[11] He, Q. (2026). Research on the construction of national image in the context of China’s rise. Shandong University.

[12] Zhang, H. (2026). CNN’s reporting on China and the construction of China’s national image. Party School of the Central Committee of CPC.

[13] Ju, W. (2022). The China view of Chinese and European national media: An analysis based on media coverage. Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, (1).

[14] Wu, Y. (2009). The international opinion landscape and path selection for China’s external communication. New Horizons, (1).

[15] Yang, M., & Wang, Z. (2023). A corpus-based discourse analysis of China’s national image constructed by environmental news in The New York Times. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 10, 545.

[16] He, W. (2021). Ecological discourse analysis: A further development of the Hallidayan model. Foreign Language Education, (1), 20-27.

[17] Alexander, R., & Stibbe, A. (2014). From the analysis of ecological discourse to the ecological analysis of discourse. Language Sciences, 41, 104-110.

[18] He, W. (2018). Several important issues on ecolinguistics as a discipline. Foreign Languages in China, (4), 11-17.

[19] Stibbe, A. (2015). Ecolinguistics: Language, ecology and the stories we live by. Routledge.

[20] Alexander, R. (2009). Framing discourse on the environment: A critical discourse approach (1st ed.). Routledge.

[21] Qian, Y., & Wang, C. (2023). The discursive construction of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality in People’s Daily: A corpus-based discourse study. Journal of China University of Petroleum (Social Sciences Edition), 39(4), 69-77.

[22] Che, L., & Yu, F. (2023). The internal logic, practical issues, and implementation pathways of the dual carbon goals boosting Chinese-style modernization. Chongqing Social Sciences, (8), 34-44.

[23] Li, S., Wang, Q., & Liu, Y. (2024). China’s renewable energy development under the dual carbon goals: Opportunities and challenges. Climate and Environmental Research, 29(3), 390-398.

[24] Sinclair, J. (1991). Corpus, concordance, collocation. Oxford University Press.

[25] Stubbs, M. (1996). Text and corpus analysis: Computer-assisted studies of language and culture. Blackwell.