PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

This study examines how China’s global image is constructed in Muslim intellectual elite discourse, with reference to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Addressing the Western-centric bias in existing research, the study adopts a qualitative discourse-analytical approach, integrating thematic analysis, framing analysis, and elements of critical discourse analysis. Drawing on a corpus of elite-authored texts (2015-2020), the findings identify five key thematic frames: economic prosperity, geostrategic interdependence, Sino-U.S. policy comparison, political stability, and regional security concerns, organised through two dominant discursive logics: economic pragmatism and moderated geopolitical framing. The analysis shows that China is primarily constructed as a development-oriented partner, with economic utility serving as the principal evaluative lens, while geopolitical concerns remain secondary and contextually negotiated. The study contributes to the literature by clarifying the distinction between perception, image, and discourse, advancing de-Westernised perspectives in global communication research within a discourse-analytical framework and a constructivist understanding of national image formation. Although limited to English-language elite texts, the findings provide important insights into context-specific constructions of China’s image in the Muslim world.