COM Research Seminar: Panda as a New Figure: An Adorable Instrument of Chinese Digital Diplomacy

05 Nov 2025 (Wed)

On 31 October 2025, Dr. Zhao Alexandre Huang, Associate Professor in Information and Communication Sciences at Université Gustave Eiffel, delivered a seminar entitled “Panda as a New Figure: An Adorable Instrument of Chinese Digital Diplomacy”. Dr. Huang is active in international communication and digital diplomacy research and practice societies. He studies institutional practices, political and public communication strategies, and the formation of strategic narratives in the practice of public diplomacy.



This seminar presented an examination of China's digital panda diplomacy strategy, highlighting how state-owned media actors have systematically leveraged platform affordances to reinforce a favorable international image. Through statistical content analysis and the ERNIE-2.0 pre-trained language model, Dr. Huang traced the evolution of panda-themed narratives across official Chinese social media accounts from 2017 to 2020. The findings reveal how Chinese media institutions have transformed the panda from a traditional goodwill ambassador into a versatile communication asset that softens China’s global image while advancing foreign policy, geopolitical initiatives, and diplomatic advocacy.

Doctoral students, faculty members, and scholars all participated, fostering dynamic and thought-provoking discussions that cultivated a vibrant and intellectually stimulating environment.