In the preceding chapters, I have examined how China's political worldview is reflected in both the study of China's international relations thinking and discussions about its national identity. As I have noted, embedded in the Chinese worldview is a deep sense of exceptionalism: China claims that it is good and different from the West. Building on this, Chapters 4 and 5 analyze the construction of China's national image and how this image is used in China's international relations. In this chapter, I examine the national image(s) that Chinese leaders are attempting to project on the world stage vis-à-vis Beijing's global interactions. In Chapter 5, I examine the discourse surrounding the high-profile Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) rolled out in 2013 by President Xi Jinping to see how the BRI is understood by Chinese thinkers and what this tells us about China's view of the current global order.

Here in Chapter 4, I argue that creating a positive national image is essential if a country wants its political worldview to be accepted by others, and also strengthens a country's claim to be an exceptional power. A positive national image also provides diplomatic goodwill in international relations and affects the way political relations are structured. States that are perceived negatively on the international stage face greater diplomatic challenges, not least in the issue of trust, which is considered the backbone of any societal or political arrangement.