EU-China Intercultural Communication

in the Context of Belt and Road Initiative

WANG Xiaohai

Table of Contents

Summary 5

Preface 6

Chapter 1 Research background, significance, research content, and innovation 8

I. Research background 8

1. The academic history and research trends of domestic and foreign research

2. The unique academic and application value of the current research

II. Research content 10

1. The research object 10

2. The overall framework of this project

3. The difficulties and emphases of this project

4. The main objectives of this project 11

III. Research methods 12

1. The basic idea of this project 12

2. The specific research methods of this project 12

3. The research plan and feasibility of this project

IV. Innovations 13

1. Innovations in terms of academic thought

2. Innovations from the academic perspective

3. Innovations in terms of research methods

Chapter 2 Culture

1. Comments on the concept and definition of “culture”

2. Definitions of “culture” by other scholars

3. Elements, general features and functions of culture

Chapter 3 Communication and the Construction of Intercultural Communication Theoretical Model

1. Definition of communication 25

2. Information theory and communication

3. Theoretical Model of Intercultural Communication

4. Elements and Characteristics of Communication

Chapter 4 Status Quo, problems and development direction of Asian intercultural communication research

1. Overview 31

2. Development of intercultural communication research in Asia

3. The image of Asia in the study of Western intercultural communication

4. The applicability of the Western intercultural communication theory in Asia

5. Paradigm beyond ethnocentrism/Eurocentrism

Chapter 5 Research on Belt and Road Initiative 40

1. BRI-related research works and publication in recent years 40

1) Works published in 2015

2) Works published in 2016 and main points of view 41

3) Works published in 2017 and main points of view 42

4) Works published in 2018 and main ideas

2. Cultural study on BRI in recent years 45

Chapter 6 BRI and Intercultural communication research 47

1. Overview 47

2. The significance of intercultural communication research to BRI 48

3. BRI enriches the content of intercultural communication research 50

4. Challenges of BRI to traditional Intercultural communication research 51

Chapter 7 BRI from the perspective of intercultural communication

1. Overview 54

2. The cultural diversity along the ‘Belt’ and ‘Road’ 55

3. BRI, two-way interaction 56

4. Construction of cultural identity, preventing and resolving cultural conflicts caused by cultural differences

Chapter 8 Cultural identity construction along the ‘Belt’ and ‘Road’ 61

1. Cultural identity and related theories

2. Eliminating the risk of cultural differences through the construction of cultural identity

Chapter 9 Intercultural communication and people-to-people communication

1. The significance of people-to-people communication, and public diplomacy

2. People-to-people communication and Intercultural communication

3. How to realize people-to-people communication

4. Suggestions on the construction of people-to-people communication

Chapter 10 Empirical study on the acceptance of BRI metaphors 69

1. Metaphor 69

2. Metaphors concerning BRI used by foreign and domestic media in recent years 69

3. The degree of acceptance of BRI metaphors in Europe: An empirical study 69

Chapter 11 Europe and its diverse cultures

1. Long history of European civilization 72

2. Multilingual Europe 75

3. Europe with diverse religions

4. Other aspects of European culture

Chapter 12 Europeans 78

1. Europeans with different personalities

2. Europeans' view of time

3. European taboos

4. Stereotypes

Chapter 13 European Union and BRI 83

1. The European Union 83

2. BRI along the European countries 84

Chapter 14 Interdisciplinary analysis of people-to-people exchanges between China and Europe 86

1. Interdisciplinary theoretical analysis of people-to-people exchanges

2. Achievements of EU-China high level dialogue on people-to-people exchanges 90

3. Suggestions and Countermeasures 93

Chapter 15 A detailed study on the culture of major European countries along the BRI 94

Romania 95

Poland 98

Ireland 105

Estonia 110

Austria 113

Bulgaria 117

Belgium 122

Denmark 126

Germany 132

France 138

Finland 146

The Netherlands 152

Czech Republic 158

Croatia 162

Latvian 166

Lithuania 168

Luxembourg 172

Maltese 175

Portugal 179

Sweden 182

Serbia 189

Cyprus 192

Slovakia 196

Slovenia 200

Spain 203

Greece 208

Hungary 213

Italy 216

UK 222

Executive summary

"The relationship between nations lies in the affinity between the people, and the affinity between the people lies in the closeness of heart". One of the major tasks in bringing different people together is to do a good job of intercultural communication.

The implementation of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is actually a process of deepening exchanges between China and other countries along the route, narrowing the gap between hearts and minds, and creating a community of shared destiny. BRI means successful intercultural communication between China and other countries, nationalities and cultures. With deeper understanding, it is possible to achieve the goal of mutual recognition.

Understanding and communication are two sides of the coin of intercultural communication, which can not be separated but complement each other. In the process of understanding, we should do a good job of spreading Chinese culture and deepening our understanding of each other in the process of communication. When you are interlinked, your ideas and practices will resonate with others.

In other words, a basic premise of "people to people communication" is to "understand the heart", understand the other party's mind, and thoroughly understand the national conditions and culture of the target country. With such a premise and foundation, it is possible to effectively and accurately convey one's ideas and intentions in the following communication process through the way that the other party can and is willing to accept, so as to realize the dual purposes of "communication".

This book aims to analyze the cultural similarities and differences between China and European countries in order to achieve the goal of effective and efficient communication in the implementation of BRI.

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