China's Digital Public Diplomacy during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

Abstract

: Public diplomacy has always been considered as an important complement to official diplomacy, and its connotation has been expanding since its concept was first put forward in the 1960s. It is one of the crucial tools for shaping the national image and enhancing its soft power. With the deepening of globalization and the development of information technology, a new form of public diplomacy called “digital public diplomacy” has emerged and attracted the attention of various countries. Although digital public diplomacy in China has not been developed for a long time, its role is becoming increasingly prominent. The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, as a major international sporting event to be held in China, carries a unique mission, especially in the area of public diplomacy. This article mainly presents an in-depth analysis of the event from three aspects: subject coordination, audience research and communication. Through digital public diplomacy, the Beijing Winter Olympic Games not only strives to shape a reliable, admirable and respectable image of China and makes efforts to tell China’s stories, but also provides an important case study for the development of China’s digital public diplomacy.