International Communication of the Belt and Road Initiative in the Digital Era

The Belt and Road Initiative （BRI）， from concept to action， and from a blueprint to high-quality cooperation， has had a widespread impact on the world over the past ten years， and has become a representative Chinese discourse and Chinese hallmark. Over the past decade， China has joined hands with other countries in pursuing high-quality BRI cooperation， shared development opportunities for common development， which has greatly promoted policy， infrastructure， trade， financial and people-to-people connectivity and produced a lot of visible outcomes. There are still some distortions and misinterpretations of the BRI in the world， with some countries and politicians wantonly distorting or even stigmatizing the BRI， thus misleading the world’s public opinion. As the world today enters the digital era， international communication has many new features： the actors of communication are more diversified， the methods and channels for information production are more diverse， the scope of dissemination is wider with faster speed， and international communication is more instant and interactive. These new features have been influencing and shaping the contemporary international communication landscape. The key to good international communication of the BRI lies in clearly grasping the features of communication， addressing the existing challenges， designing targeted communication contents and broadening communication channels， so as to enable governments and people of various countries to better understand the BRI， and to shape a comprehensive， objective and impartial perception on the BRI in the world.

Features of International Communication in the Digital Era

With the continuous development of digital technology and the in-depth advancement of intelligence-led technological transformation， international communication has increasingly embodied the distinctive features of the digital era， and has pushed forward the continuous changes in the international communication landscape， mainly reflected in the following aspects.

First， digital transformation has made the actors of international communication more diversified. Traditional international communication usually involves government departments of a country， international media， international organizations， multinational enterprises and other communication actors， with national narratives dominating the production of information， and the form of communication mainly relying on one-way media such as television， radio and newspapers. Although the communication actors were somewhat diversified， it has the macro actors such as the state and the government at the center， with the heads of state or heads of government， diplomats， spokespersons， and other people involved in foreign affairs generally carrying out communication in the capacity of representatives of the macro actors. The development of the internet and digital technology has led to changes in the main actors of communication on a global scale， with the involvement of more actors and increased production and dissemination of personalized information. On the one hand， macro-narrative actors represented by the state and government continue to play an important role in communication， as they release authoritative information and shape the communication agenda. On the other hand， individuals have joined the communication process and become an important communication force， and digital and social platforms have empowered individuals with communication opportunities and means similar to those of governments， media organizations and multinational enterprises. Individuals such as representatives of civil society organizations， opinion leaders， industrial experts， journalists， correspondents and commentators are playing an increasingly important role. As information communication enters the era of human-machine symbiosis， international communication has begun to reflect the combination of humans and objects， where social robots can also become information producers and disseminators， participate in topic discussions， and even disguise as others to produce false information， stir up the emotions of internet users， and manipulate the direction of public opinion， thus adding variables to communication.

Second， international communication channels have been increasingly broadened. Since the First World War， the main channels of international communication have evolved from newspapers， radio， television， internet to social media. At present， traditional media such as newspapers and television are still playing their roles， but their main audience is shrinking. All kinds of digital platforms are exerting an increasingly wide influence in international communication， and the internet companies that build digital platforms have become newcomers in communication. Some scholars have pointed out that the infrastructure services provided by the current five giants， namely Google， Apple， Facebook， Amazon and Microsoft， determine the overall design and data distribution of the global platform ecosystem. Individuals can use these platforms to directly participate in information production and dissemination by means of blogs， short videos and comments.

Third， international communication contents tend to be diversified， personalized and fragmented. Traditional media usually choose macro topics that are profound and serious， and their contents and styles highlight the authority， systematicity， logic and completeness of information， such as event reports， television interviews and commentary articles. Entering the digital era， with the rapid development of social media， short videos and live broadcasting platforms， people’s habits of acquiring and reading information are also changing， and the traditional text-based news is gradually evolving into multimedia reports with both illustrations and text. The involvement of diversified communication actors has provided international communication with richer creative perspectives， and the way of content presentation has become more vivid， lively， short and concise， but also more fragmented.

Finally， the immediacy， interactivity and emotionality of international communication have become more prominent. Digital communication has eliminated the traditional boundaries of time and space， and information can be spread all around the world in a short period of time. In terms of immediacy and globalization， traditional means of international communication cannot even compare with digital communication. Through instant messaging tools， people can get real-time access to texts， images， videos， information and opinions from all over the world. The globalized and internet-based information dissemination has also facilitated a wider range of interactions and exchanges. Interaction among communication actors has become a distinctive feature of international communication in the digital era， with participating actors not only producing， publishing and disseminating information， but also engaging in information interactions. There are constant interactions between publishers and commentators， between publishers and platforms， between commentators themselves and even between humans and machines. The users not only share information， but also share emotions， realizing emotional and sentimental resonance.