Image Of China Through The Eyes Of African Students In Guangzhou

To shape a decent national image of China is to build a positive external environment for fastgrowing economy and society of the country. The past literature on national image focuses on theinfluence of mass media on images of China through the eyes of foreigners, while my researchhighlights the impact of personal exposure and contact in China on the images. African studentsin Guangzhou are chosen to study the change of the images before and after their arrival in China.These students are important because they are the subjects of the Chinese government anduniversities to undertake public diplomacy and to raise national image.Triangulation methodology is used in the fieldwork, including survey, individual and groupinterviews and observation. The outcome shows that the attitudes of African students inGuangzhou towards China change according to the Matthew Effect: their previously positiveevaluation on the “economic foundation” of China continued to rise after coming to China whiletheir negative one on the “superstructure” to fall. They didn’t have their assessment elevatedbecause of different language and habits in interacting with Chinese. Meanwhile, country ofresidence prior to China, length of stay in China and the whether they have been good friendswith Chinese are factors that influence their opinions.Arguably, state-led as educational cooperation and communication are, it requires thecollaboration of government and universities to raise the positive attitudes of African studentstowards China. Thus, for the purpose of shaping ideal image of China and to upgrade China’ssoft power in Africa, it is important to promote the internationalization of higher educationalinstitutions in China, to improve the quality of education of foreign students and to facilitateAfrican students’ integrating into the campus and society.