Strategies for Optimizing the International Discourse System Tailored to China's Modernization—A Study Based on COVID-19 and Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis

With China getting closer to the center of the world stage, it is more important and urgent to build a Chinese-style modern international discourse system. Based on the three-dimensional framework of critical discourse analysis (CDA) by Fairclough and using the corpus method, this study collected reports from December 27, 2019 to March 12, 2024. With the help of the corpus tool AntConc, this study analyzes the use of high-frequency words and modal words in reports as well as the Chinese image constructed in reports. Through comparative analysis, this study advocates for the establishment of a differentiated, multidimensional, and diversified international discourse system, so as to better tell China's stories, make China's voice heard, and present a China that is credible, appealing, and respectable.