The PubDiplo project is pleased to announce the publication of its first public-facing research article in The Conversation France. Entitled “Behind the Panda’s Cuteness: China’s Diplomacy of Emotional Influence Online”, the article examines how the giant panda has become a strategic resource in China’s public and digital diplomacy.
Taking as its point of departure the return of Huan Huan and Yuan Zi to China in November 2025, followed by the French presidential visit to China in December, the article explores a central question in international communication: how can an animal generally perceived as cute, harmless and universally appealing become an instrument of diplomatic influence?
The article first retraces the historical and political construction of the panda as a diplomatic symbol. Rather than representing an immutable element of Chinese cultural identity, the contemporary image of the panda emerged through a series of scientific, national and diplomatic appropriations during the twentieth century. From state gifts and zoological cooperation to contemporary social media communication, panda diplomacy has progressively evolved into a distinctive component of China’s international communication strategy.
Drawing on a series of empirical studies conducted since 2019, the article then examines how Chinese national media, including Xinhua, People’s Daily and CGTN, stage pandas on international social media platforms. Apparently playful content featuring panda photographs, videos and animated images serves two complementary purposes.
First, panda-related content provides an accessible vehicle for circulating official narratives about friendship, peaceful cooperation and China’s benevolent international role. Second, the emotional and visual appeal of the panda allows Chinese media to accumulate sympathy and positive affect around the country’s image. The panda therefore functions as an instrument of playful nation branding, capable of crossing linguistic, cultural and political boundaries.
This case illustrates one of the central concerns of the PubDiplo project: contemporary public diplomacy increasingly operates through hybrid communicative forms in which political narratives intersect with emotions, visual cultures, popular symbols and platform-specific practices. Influence is produced not only through explicit diplomatic statements, but also through apparently ordinary and entertaining digital content that shapes how international audiences perceive countries and their policies.
As PubDiplo’s first article aimed at a wider public, this publication inaugurates a series of research dissemination activities designed to make the project’s findings accessible beyond academic circles. Future publications and events will continue to examine the transformations of public diplomacy, strategic communication and digital influence between France and China.
The PubDiplo project is jointly funded by the French National Research Agency and the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong ANR-25-CE41-4061 / RGC A-HKBU203/25.
The full article is available in French on The Conversation France.
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