Earlier this month, China Daily, the Chinese government’s flagship English-language newspaper, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Shaanxi provincial committee of the Chinese Communist Party. The agreement, following the trend of central-local coordination in state-led soft power attempts, illustrates the persisting role of the newspaper group and other central CCP-run media outlets in China’s international messaging efforts.

The framework agreement between China Daily and the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee’s Propaganda Office was signed in the provincial capital of Xi’an on August 18, with China Daily Editor-in-Chief Qu Yingpu (曲莹璞) and Shaanxi Party Committee Standing Committee member Sun Daguang (孙大光) presiding over the ceremony.

Sun highlighted that the provincial party committee’s recent plenary session passed opinions on accelerating the construction of a “culturally strong province” (文化强省), which include new deployments for international communication work. He described China Daily as “a main force in our country’s international communication.”

Representing his outlet, Qu outlined its role in implementing President Xi Jinping’s directives and the party’s policies, stating the organization is “promoting systematic changes and building a more effective international communication system” (推动系统性变革，构建更有效力的国际传播体系).

The partnership reflects President Xi Jinping’s broader directives to remake China’s external propaganda efforts, including his call during a collective study session of the Politburo in May 2021 to present China as “credible, lovable and respectable” (可信、可爱、可敬) to international audiences. Xi has emphasized the need for China to enhance its global narrative power and improve its international image through coordinated messaging between central and local authorities.

Part of this strategy has brought about the nationwide formation of a growing network of international communication centers (国际传播中心), or ICCs. These leverage local media groups and focused local narratives, with the aim of expanding China soft power efforts from the bottom outward. But the partnership between Shaanxi province and China Daily is also a reminder of how important well-funded central-level state media remain to China’s external propaganda efforts.

The China Daily agreement with Shaanxi this month establishes cooperation in content supply. The two sides have also committed to expanding international communication channels, which could mean co-running accounts on major overseas platforms like Facebook and Instagram that are blocked in China. As talent is a persistent shortcoming at the provincial level and below, they have also agreed to build international communication talent teams, as well as strengthen youth international communication and exchange.

This framework mirrors similar partnerships China Daily has established with other provincial authorities as part of a coordinated strategy to localize international messaging efforts and support local jurisdictions — and even universities (see table above) — that are often less familiar with global media dynamics.