Svetlana Krivokhizh and Elena Soboleva organized a roundtable at the 3rd Congress of International Relations Scholars, held at St. Petersburg State University

Within the framework of the 3rd Congress of International Relations Scholars (KIMO) in St. Petersburg, Svetlana Krivokhizh and Elena Soboleva served as organizers and speakers of the roundtable titled “China in the Global Communication Space: Discourses, Institutions, and Strategies of Influence.” The session brought together leading Russian experts on China’s contemporary communication policies from the Institute of China and Modern Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ICMA RAS), MGIMO University of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European University at St. Petersburg, Kazan Federal University, and Moscow State Linguistic University, sparking lively discussion among congress participants.

© From the personal archive of Svetlana Krivohizh

Session moderator Svetlana Krivokhizh opened the discussion by emphasizing China’s growing role not only as an economic power but also as a communication-centered pole of influence, actively shaping alternative channels of global information exchange.

The roundtable provided a comprehensive, multidimensional perspective on the evolution of China’s communication strategy. Participants examined key instruments of China’s public diplomacy—from traditional international media outlets to digital platforms and non-traditional actors such as influencers and educational institutions.

The following themes were addressed:
— The role of China’s international communication hubs as tools of soft power and political influence;
— Institutional mechanisms for integrating digital opinion leaders into public opinion management;
— The distinctive features of discourse on international conflicts in Chinese social media;
— The concept of digital sovereignty in comparative perspective (China, the United States, Russia);
— Paradoxes of China’s contemporary educational strategy;
— Strategies for promoting China’s cultural and tourism brands in the global digital space.

This interdisciplinary scope enabled participants to view China’s communication model not as a collection of isolated initiatives, but as a coherent system in which discourse, institutions, and technologies interact to construct an alternative global narrative. The discussion underscored China’s increasing significance as an architect of a new international information order.