English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies ISSN 2640-9836 (Print) ISSN 2640-9844 (Online) Vol. 6, No. 4, 2024 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls 35 Original Paper A Comparative Study of China's Ecological Image Constructed by Chinese and British Media Discourse on the Belt and Road Initiative in 2023 Based on Transitivity System Mingfang Zhang1* & Xinyue Ling1 1 School of International communication and education, Communication University of Zhejiang, Hang Zhou, China * Mingfang Zhang, E-mail: 20220048@cuz.edu.cn Received: May 19, 2024 Accepted: June 28, 2024 Online Published: July 15, 2024 doi:10.22158/eltls.v6n4p35 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/eltls.v6n4p35 Abstract The paper adopts a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods to compare China’s ecological image constructed in the Belt and Road Initiative Reports in 2023 between China Daily and Reuters. It finds that China Daily's news reports on the Belt and Road involve material processes (59.8%)> verbal processes (19.5%) >mental processes (12.6%)>relational processes (6.6%)> existential processes (1.5%). Reuters’ news reports on the Belt and Road involve material processes (52.1%)>verbal processes (26.1%)>relational processes (16.1%), existential processes (3.8%)>mental processes (1.9%). The use of transitivity in the China Daily constructs an ecological image that is committed to rejecting political struggles, and pursuing peaceful and green development. In contrast, Reuters’s use of transitivity constructs an ecological image that pursues green development, but with an arrogant posture. The reason for the difference is that China Daily is influenced by the Chinese government’s ideology and political aims, while Reuters is influenced by Western values and strategic considerations of China's threat. Keywords transitivity system, ecological image, media discourse, the Belt and Road Initiative 1. Introduction Image is the perception and evaluation of an object, originated from people’s beliefs, ideas and impressions (Kotler, 1997). The national image is a multidimensional construct influenced by historical, political, cultural, and social elements (McConnell & Watanabe, 2008), and is the collective www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies Vol. 6, No. 4, 2024 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 36 representation or perception of a country in the minds of people at home and abroad. This image can be shaped by various factors including history, media representation, cultural exports, foreign policy, and public diplomacy. As the national image is a multidimensional construct, the ecological image is an indispensable element of national image (Chen, 2019). A nation’s ecological image can be defined as the overall cognition and evaluation of the political (including diplomacy), economic, social, cultural, and natural factors that influence the construction of ecological civilization within a country or by other countries and their public (He & Cheng, 2023). The construction of China’s ecological image involves both self-perception and other-perception (Guo, 2010), and it is a process of “self-shaping” and “other-shaping” (Zhao & Ye, 2021). Chinese media and Western media have constructed China’s ecological image from two different dimensions (Guo, 2010, p. 28). In other words, “self-shaping” and “other-shaping” create a dynamic national image in the discourse (Zhao & Ye, 2021, p. 147). Therefore, comparison between the “self-shaping” national image and “other-shaping” national image is conductive for making a complete understanding of national image. The study of discourse construction of China’s image regards Chinese image as a social phenomenon constructed by discourse. It focuses on the interaction between discourse and China’s image, and emphasizes the dynamic construction and transmission of China’s image in discourse (Wei, 2022). Media framing can influence public perception, often leading to a simplified and sometimes stereotypical portrayal of countries (Entman, 2008). The mainstream English media in China, which not only carefully design the topics, contents, and frames of news to convey information but also construct cultural identity and build China’s image (Liu & Jia, 2020). Therefore, international news plays an important role in shaping the global image of a country (Zhang & Cameron, 2003). As the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) emerges as a significant element of China’s foreign policy which aims at global development, it is crucial to understand how this initiative is portrayed in different media. 2023 is the tenth anniversary since the proposal of the Belt and Road Initiative. With the current global economic recession and continuous topic of environmental protection, the Belt and Road Forum in 2023 specifically emphasized green development, which attracts widespread media attention and discussion. The paper conducts a comparative analysis of the reports on the Belt and Road initiative published by China Daily and Reuters in 2023 based on the transitivity system, aiming to comapre China’s ecological image constructed between the Chinese media and the British media. 2. Theoretical Framework 2.1 Transitivity Analysis by Halliday Transitivity analysis is a key concept in Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) developed by Michael Halliday (1961). It provides a framework for analyzing how the choice of verbs and their associated structures in a sentence can reflect the speaker’s or writer’s interpretation of the event, and how they represent the world. It also examines how these processes are formulated by participants in clauses, which in turn reflects the text’s overall meaning and the speaker’s intention. According to Halliday www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies Vol. 6, No. 4, 2024 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 37 (2004), there are six main process types. Material processes involve physical actions, such as “jump”“run” “swim”. In these processes, the individual performing the action is referred to as the Actor, while another entity involved is known as the Goal. Mental processes pertain to the internal experiences of participants, involving a Senser and a Phenomenon. These processes typically use the simple tense form, as seen in expressions like “I believe…” and “he thinks…”. Relational processes are divided into the two sub-types: the attributive process and the identifying process, both of which describe the relationship between two entities. In attributive processes, these entities are termed the Carrier and the Attribute, whereas in identifying processes, they are called the Token and the Value. Verbal processes encompass the conveyance of messages through spoken or written language, involving actions such as “say” “praise” “claim”. Participants in these processes include the Sayer, Receiver, and Verbiage, which represents the content of the communication. Sometimes, another participant known as the Target is also involved. Behavioral processes, which straddle the line between mental and material actions, involve physiological actions by humans, such as “laugh” “stare”. The primary participant in these processes is the Behaver, and occasionally, another participant called the Range may be involved. Existential processes signify the existence or occurrence of entities or events, marked by expressions like “there is” or verbs such as “exist”, “remain” and “happen”. The participant associated with these processes is the Existent. 2.2 The Analysis Framework of the Present Study Fairclough (1992) viewed discourse as a social practice because the language use is shaped and molded socially. This social theory consists of three parts, namely “Texts” “Diffuse practices” and “Social practices”. The three-dimensional concept of discourse proposed by Fairclough is now widely used as an effective analytical framework. In order to analyze different processes in greater depth through how the media influences the creation of ecological images, this study will follow Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework and form a new three-dimensional analytical framework: the dimension of linguistic description, the dimensions of image interpretation, and the dimensions of ideological explanation. The dimension of linguistic description focuses on analyzing the six processes of the transitivity system, and exploring their use and distribution in the news texts. The dimensions of image interpretation is to deeply analyze the real meaning behind the text through the six processes of the transitivity system, so as to show the ecological image that the media wants to construct. The dimensions of ideological explanation is to dig deeper into the ideology behind the ecological image constructed by the media, and through the differences in the ecological image, we can understand the differences in the ideology behind the media. 3. Research Design 3.1 Research Questions This study intends to answer the following three questions: www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies Vol. 6, No. 4, 2024 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 38 (1) What are the differences in the transitivity processes used in the Belt and Road reports of China Daily and Reuters? (2) What ecological images of China are respectively constructed by China Daily and Reuters? (3) What are the ideological differences between the ecological images of China presented by China Daily and Reuters? 3.2 Research Method Based on the theoretical framework of transitivity analysis, this study adopts both of the qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze the similarities and differences in the construction of China's ecological image through the BRI reports by the media in China and the UK. Methodologically, the study will involve a collection and analysis of media reports on the Belt and Road Initiative in 2023, from both Chinese and British media. Using transitivity analysis, the study will examine the choice of verbs and their associated structures in the reports to reveal the underlying ideologies and power relations in the representation of China's ecological image. 3.3 Data Collection This study uses news reports on the Belt and Road Initiative from China Daily and Reuters in 2023 as its corpus. The time period of the selected texts is from October 17 to December 31, 2023, which is the opening of the Third Belt and Road Summit Forum for International Cooperation and the last day of 2023. The selected texts are published on the official websites of China Daily and Reuters. The top 8 reports are selected from each of the two media based on the relevance of searches on their official websites. Then, the 16 reports were converted into text format and imported into the UAM Corpus Tool 16 which is used to code the corpus for transitivity analysis. Table 1. Selected News Reports in China Daily No. Title Words 01 More green partnerships needed in initiative 576 02 CDB plays active role in boosting Belt, Road 1475 03 From ‘going out’ to sustainability 788 04 Partners joining hands in biodiversity protection 806 05 China, Benin elevate relations to level of strategic partnership 563 06 Former diplomat praises BRI 566 07 Nations urged to join efforts for energy security 815 08 China, Turkmenistan upgrade ties 773 Table 2. Selected News Reports in Reuters No. Title Words 01 China's Belt and Road energy projects set for “greenest” year, research shows 359 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies Vol. 6, No. 4, 2024 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 39 02 China's Xi warns against decoupling, lauds Belt and Road at forum 286 03 ACWA Power, Power China break ground on green hydrogen plant in Uzbekistan 224 04 Leaders gather in China for smaller, greener Belt and Road summit 819 05 China ready to boost Pakistan ties but urges security guarantee 268 06 Partnership with China more important than Belt and Road, Italy's foreign minister says 309 07 Indonesia to seek China’s help to develop renewables at Belt and Road Forum 320 08 Sri Lanka president urges debt relief to help green transition 291 3. Analysis and Discussion 3.1 Comparison of Transitivity Processes between China Daily and Reuters The analysis of transitivity processes in the news reports from China Daily and Reuters aims to dissect the linguistic underpinnings that shape the ecological image of China as portrayed through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) coverage. The role of transitivity works as a tool for uncovering the subtleties in language that convey deeper meanings and ideologies, so the choice of the transitivity processes can allow us to understand the implicit messages that media outlets communicate about China’s BRI. 3.1.1 Transitivity Process in the News Reports of BRI from China Daily As can be seen from Table 3, among the 348 transitivity processes reported in total, 208 are material processes, accounting for 59.8% of the total; 44 are mental process, accounting for 12.6%; 68 are verbal process, accounting for 19.5%; 23 are relational process, accounting for 6.6%; 5 are existential process, accounting for 1.5%. Since the number of relational process, existential process and behavioral processes is too small. In the following analysis, we will focus on material process, mental process, and verbal process. Table 3. The Distribution of Transitivity Process by China Daily Transitivity Process Material Mental Verbal Relational Existential Total 01 12 5 8 1 2 28 02 51 2 4 4 1 62 03 23 2 6 3 0 34 04 36 5 0 5 0 46 05 23 4 9 2 0 38 06 20 14 13 2 0 49 07 20 3 16 4 2 45 08 23 9 12 2 0 46 Total 208 44 68 23 5 348 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies Vol. 6, No. 4, 2024 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 40 Percent 59.8% 12.6% 19.5% 6.6% 1.5% 100% Material Process Material process denotes the action of “doing” illustrating how one entity performs an action, potentially affecting other entities. In material processes, the primary elements include the actor, the process, and the goal (Halliday, 2004). In Example (1), there is an action process, and “sign” forms a semantic configuration of “participant + action process”, which describes the fact that the company signed a co-operation agreement on green development. This is an objective fact, as well as a useful process in terms of the green development of the Belt and Road. Example (2) includes two action processes with “set out” and “lay”, which describes the fact that the plans are formulated by various countries to promote international biodiversity. (1) The company signed several cooperation agreements on wind power projects and green hydrogen projects with partners in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on Tuesday, expanding its global portfolio, which spans 47 countries and regions. (R01) (2) Countries set out their respective and regional ambitions, laying the groundwork for advancing the international biodiversity process. (R03) Verbal Process The verbal process refers to the process by which participants speak and exchange information directly through the use of language. Different types of choices in the language process can express the speaker’s or author’s attitude towards the person or point of view he is writing or speaking about. In the selected news, “say” occurs 46 times; other reporting verbs such as “tell” “announce” “add” occur 22 times. (3) Huang Runqiu, minister of ecology and environment, said China will focus on key areas such as green infrastructure, green energy and green finance, and conduct policy dialogues and share experiences to collectively work toward green and low-carbon development with economies participating in the BRI. (R01) (4) China also announced in 2021 to stop building new coal-fired power projects overseas, promoting Green Belt and Road by halting domestic financing for such projects. (R03) Example (3) involves the verbal process, in which “say” appears to carry few of the negative meaning. As the author's point of view can permeate the discourse by quotation (Qiu & Hong, 2012), the quotation of Huang Runqiu also shows the reporter’s positive attitude toward China’s green plan. In Example (4), “announce” indicates that China will stop building new coal-fired power projects overseas by 2021. The use of “announce” gives the reader a sense of “authority” or “officialism”, which can unknowingly reinforce the reader’s approval of the news story. Positive verbal processes are those such as “announce” “declare” “point out”. The effect of these words is to contribute in some way to the reader’s sense that the person or event being reported is wise, authoritative, or positive. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies Vol. 6, No. 4, 2024 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 41 Mental Process In the transitivity system, the mental process expresses the process of “knowing” or “thinking”, which is usually an internal psychological feeling. It includes the categories of perception, emotion, and cognition. In example (5), “believe” is a clear indicator of a psychological state, which signifies a conviction or viewpoint. Unlike the word “think” , “believe” does not inherently convey a positive or negative bias, yet its usage often emphasizes that the ensuing statement holds significant weight or importance to the speaker. (5) Solheim also believes that as the global leader in many green technologies, China has an edge, and that its technology should be made available through investments in developing nations. (R06) 3.1.2 Transitivity Process in the News Reports of BRI from Reuters As can be seen from Table 4, among the 211 transitivity processes reported in total, 110 are material processes, accounting for 52.1% of the total. In the following analysis, we will focus on material process, verbal process, and relational process. Table 4. The Distribution of Transitivity Process by Reuters Transitivity Process Material Mental Verbal Relational Existential Total 01 15 0 6 2 1 24 02 10 1 5 2 1 19 03 7 0 4 4 2 17 04 15 1 17 15 1 49 05 14 0 6 2 1 23 06 16 0 6 3 0 25 07 19 1 5 3 1 29 08 14 1 6 3 1 25 Total 110 4 55 34 8 211 Percent 52.1% 1.9% 26.1% 16.1% 3.8% 100% Material Process The use of material processes within the text is notably the highest compared to other types of processes. This characteristic significantly enhances the vividness of the news report, making it more engaging and dynamic for the reader. The material process is mainly used to depict the actions of Actors (specific people, countries or regions) in the Belt and Road. In Example (8) and (9), a semantic configuration of “participant + action process” respectively involves the action of “launch” “harness” and “attend”. The three actions seem neutral but actually negative in their implied meaning of the whole clause. Example (6) implies China’s intention to strengthen its finance and infrastructure www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies Vol. 6, No. 4, 2024 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 42 construction. Example (7) emphasizes that China carries out the green plan of BRI when facing such headwinds. In some reports, neutral words are used but negative meanings are expressed. Reuters constructs an image of a country moving towards green and peaceful while implicitly suggesting that the green development of the Belt and Road is political and geopolitical. (6) Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the BRI in 2013 to harness China’s strengths in financing and infrastructure construction ...... (R01) (7) Facing such headwinds, Xi is pushing to make the BRI smaller and greener, and to move from big-ticket projects like dams to high-tech ones such as digital finance and e-commerce platforms. (R04) Verbal Process These reported words or sentences are transplanted from the original context to a new context and are mainly used by the reporter to express their own opinion. The speaker provides evidence for what he has said or for the position or opinion he has expressed or provides a source for the information being conveyed. Sakita (2002, 206-207) pointed out that verbal reporting is a manifestation of utterance which indicates the source of the speaker’s knowledge and its reliability as well. Therefore, the speaker can support his/her own views by reporting others’ utterances. (8) Over half of China’s energy investment under BRI is now going to renewable energy, Fudan University researchers said earlier this year. (R03) (9) Chinese President Xi Jinping warned against decoupling from China as he addressed the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on Wednesday, criticizing Western efforts to reduce dependence on the Chinese economy. (R02) (10) When China launched its Belt and Road Initiative 10 years ago, it touted huge infrastructure spending linking it with Western Europe. (R04) “Say” is a neutral reporting verb in English, and it often appears in news reports. In the selected stories, “say” occurs 33 times; other neutral reporting verbs such as “tell” and “add” occur 20 times. In addition, the negative verbs “warn” and “tout” twice. The analysis shows that the neutral word “say” is chosen in many sentences. It can be argued that most of the content is reported neutrally, which means that Reuters tends to choose unbiased reporting verbs when reporting events. Such reporting verbs can strengthen the content of the report, achieve the restoration of the speaker’s position, and highlight the objectivity of the news report. In Example (9), The verb “warn” is used in the context of Western countries reducing their dependence on the Chinese economy and not participating in the Belt and Road construction. The word ''warn'' means to make someone realize a possible danger or problem, especially one in the future. Choosing this word is closely related to the economic and political relations between China and the West. In Example (10), the word “tout” is chosen to describe the fact that China hoped the Belt and Road Initiative would be connected to Western Europe. The verb “tout” means to advertise, talk about, or praise something or someone repeatedly, especially as a way of encouraging people to like, accept, or buy something. The word “tout” implies that the author thinks www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies Vol. 6, No. 4, 2024 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 43 that China is using Western Europe to publicize the Belt and Road Initiative, thus encouraging the countries and regions along the route to join the Initiative, which contains a negative attitude towards the Belt and Road Initiative. Relational Process Relational processes are often used to define or evaluate people or things to express attributes or states. The number of Relational processes in the selected reports shows that journalists commented on the nature, purpose and significance of things involving the Belt and Road. (11) China is a major ally and investor in Pakistan but both separatist and Islamist militants have attacked Chinese projects over recent years, killing Chinese personnel. (R05) The extensive use of the relational process leads to a reduction of dynamism in reporting news, and enhances the qualitative or solidifying nature of people or things. Example (11) includes an identifying process, forming a semantic construct of Token and the Value. The relation process implies the relationship between China and Pakistan. The relation process is followed by two material process in which the action of “attack” and “kill” are involved, which implies China’s BRI projects are strongly opposed in spite of China’s role as the major ally and investor in Pakistan. 3.1.3 Differences of Transitivity Processes between China Daily and Reuters The study found that the distribution of processes in the reports of the two media, China Daily and Reuters, has similarities and differences. The distribution of material processes in the selected texts of China Daily is as follows: material processes (59.8%)>verbal processes (19.5%) >mental processes (12.6%)>relational processes (6.6%)> existential processes (1.5%). The distribution of material processes in the selected texts of Reuters is as follows: material processes (52.1%)>verbal processes (26.1%)>relational processes (16.1%)>existential processes (3.8%)>mental processes (1.9%). Behavioral processes were rarely used in the texts selected from China Daily and Reuters, so the analysis only shows the other five processes. Material processes accounted for the highest proportion of the Belt and Road reports, followed by verbal processes. This demonstrates that both media reported the development of the Belt and Road Initiative objectively, presenting an ecological image of China that is actively involved in green development and environmental protection. Both media adhered to the principle of journalistic objectivity and tried to be objective and neutral in their choice of verbs. There are also differences in the choice of process between China Daily and Reuters. China Daily tends to use the mental process, which focuses on the internal cognition of the participants. And through the participants’ perception, the mental process expresses their expectation for green development and presents an image of a China that vigorously promotes green development and environmental protection. However, Reuters tends to use relational processes to define people or events related to the Belt and Road, which, to a certain extent, deepens people’s stereotypes. Moreover, defining people or events is a very subjective behavior, which potentially expresses the author's negative attitude towards the Belt and Road Initiative and green development. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies Vol. 6, No. 4, 2024 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 44 4.2 Comparison of China’s Ecological Image Constructed by China Daily and Reuters The comparative analysis of China’s ecological image as constructed by China Daily and Reuters reveals significant differences in narrative focus, ideological underpinnings, and perceived roles of China in the global ecological context. China Daily presents China as a proactive leader in green development, emphasizing the Belt and Road Initiative’s commitment to fostering environmental sustainability and international cooperation. The use of material, verbal, and mental processes in China Daily’s reporting aims to depict China as actively engaging in the promotion of renewable resources and environmental protection. This portrayal aligns with China’s self-image as a builder of the Community of Shared Future for Mankind, focusing on peaceful development and rejecting geopolitical conflicts in favor of win-win cooperation. In contrast, Reuters’ coverage of the BRI in 2023 introduces a more complex image of China’s ecological efforts. While acknowledging the shift towards greener initiatives, Reuters also presents this shift as somewhat reactive, influenced by external pressures such as debt accumulation from early-stage infrastructure projects, the COVID-19 pandemic, and deteriorating relations with the United States. The selection of material, verbal, and relational processes in Reuters' reports serves to construct an image of China that is committed to addressing climate change and the energy crisis, yet also driven by political and economic strategies to ease pressure. The use of neutral words alongside verbs with negative connotations, such as “warn” and “laud”, suggests ambivalence, portraying China’s green development efforts as encompassing both genuine ecological concern and strategic geopolitical maneuvering. The divergence in portrayal can be attributed to the different target audiences and editorial stances of China Daily and Reuters. As a state-owned outlet, China Daily’s narrative is closely aligned with the official viewpoints of the Chinese government, promoting an image of China as a benign ecological leader. Reuters, with its global audience, adopts a more critical stance, highlighting the complexities and challenges inherent in China's execution of the BRI. This includes pointing out the initiative’s implications for debt, geopolitical tensions, and the strategic re-calibration towards green development as a means to alleviate economic and diplomatic pressures. These contrasting narratives underscore the role of media in shaping perceptions of national actions on the international stage. 4.3 Ideology behind China’s Ecological Image between China Daily and Reuters The nature of the different Chinese ecological images presented in the news discourses of the Chinese and British media in the Belt and Road reports reflects different interpretations and reporting perspectives of the Chinese and Western media on the development of the Belt and Road and China’s ecological policies. The news reports of both China Daily and Reuters are political in nature. This underlying ideological and power relationship is reflected in the selectivity and focus of media coverage. China Daily’s coverage of the Belt and Road, which emphasizes China’s ecological protection in the construction of the Belt and Road, as well as its positive actions and achievements in sustainable development, is largely influenced by the Chinese government’s economic policies and political www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies Vol. 6, No. 4, 2024 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 45 strategies. China Daily, as a national foreign communication channel, mostly reflects the mainstream ideology and poetics of the source culture, and is even the so-called “mouthpiece” of politics and “window” of culture, with obvious political purposes and official colors. It has an obvious political purpose and official color (Hu & Jia, 2010, p. 25). Most importantly, the Chinese government hopes that the international community will recognize China as a responsible nation in maintaining world peace. Therefore, China Daily emphasizes China’s ecological protection in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative and its positive actions and achievements in sustainable development in its English-language reports on the Belt and Road Initiative. It can be seen that the Chinese media's portrayal of China's ecological image is still centered on the image of a major responsible nation. The UK’s policy towards China has always been based on self-interest, which has led to the overall two-sided nature of the UK’s policy towards China, as reflected in the changes in the UK government’s attitude towards the Belt and Road Initiative over the past decade. It is precisely because of the two-sided character of the British government’s policy toward China that the Reuters report presents both an objective and neutral description and at the same time emphasizes the problems and challenges presented by the Belt and Road Initiative. These discussions seem to confirm that the British media is likely to be in sync with ideology in order to promote the government's political goals. And this hidden dominant ideology often provides a standard to measure the value of news and the appropriateness of British policy toward China. 4. Conclusion Using Halliday’s transitivity analysis and the CDA as its theoretical framework, this paper shows the differences between the Chinese and British media regarding the ecological image of China portrayed in their reports on the Belt and Road in 2023, and analyzes the hidden ideological differences between China and Britain. In the textual part, the paper focuses on the statistics and categorization of the process of transitivity involved in the selected news texts. According to the statistical analysis, both Reuters and China Daily have the largest proportion of material processes, followed by verbal processes, as well as existential processes and behavioral processes which are basically seldom used in the reports. However, the third largest process in China Daily is the mental process, while Reuters’ is the relational process. This study found that in reporting the Belt and Road initiative, China Daily portrayed an image of China committed to peace and green development by choosing a neutral material process description, an objective and authoritative verbal process, and a psychological process of expressing its will. The report emphasized China’s promotion of renewable energy technology exchange and global environmental protection, aiming to build a community with a shared future for mankind, rejecting geopolitical conflicts, and seeking cooperation and win-win situation between countries. At the same time, Reuters presents China’s ecological developmental responsibility in dealing with the energy crisis and climate change through material, verbal, and relational processes, while suggesting that this green development is more of a strategy for China to ease economic www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies Vol. 6, No. 4, 2024 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 46 pressures. Although the reports from Reuters try to be objective, they constructs a politically charged ecological image of China through the choice of processes that reveal negative perceptions of China and its Belt and Road Initiative. The difference between the two lies in different ideologies behind them. Reuters, influenced by Western values and a long history of hostility toward China, tends to take a skeptical stance in its coverage of the Belt and Road Initiative. China Daily, which is directly supervised and managed by the Chinese government, tends to present a positive image of China in its news reports, which are often characterized by a strong national ideology and political goals. The study connect media discourse analysis with the construction of national image through the lens of transitivity analysis, providing new ideas for related research. The research introduces innovative pathways for examining how strategic linguistic choices in news reporting influence construction of national image. However, the study still has its limitations. Firstly, the scope of the study and the selection of news texts are limited, which leads to some limitations in the universal application. Secondly, although the results of this research are based on representative news texts and UMA data analysis, there is still some subjectivity in the research process. 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Public Relations Review, 29(1), 13-28. Zhao, L. & Ye, X. (2021). China's environmental image in the eyes of the British public--an interview study based on schema theory. Journalism & Communication Review, 74(02), 118-128. 3.Analysis and Discussion 3.1.1Transitivity Process in the News Reports of BRI fr Table 3. The Distribution of Transitivity Process 3.1.2Transitivity Process in the News Reports of BRI fr Table 4. The Distribution of Transitivity Process 3.1.3Differences of Transitivity Processes between Chin 4.2 Comparison of China’s Ecological Image Constru 4.3 Ideology behind China’s Ecological Image betwe 4.Conclusion