China and Artificial Intelligence in Communication Journals: A Systematic Review of Scopus and Web of Science Databases

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5294/pacla.2026.29.1.4

Keywords:

Artificial intelligence, China, communication studies, Web of Science, Scopus

Abstract

Technological disputes involving the development of artificial intelligence (AI), especially between the United States and China, have drawn increasing attention from both the media and academia. In this context, a systematic literature review was conducted using the Web of Science and Scopus indexing databases, focusing on China and AI, specifically in journals classified within the field of communication. Our interest lies in understanding the field’s perspectives on this topic. The studies were categorized using content analysis. In this way, we aim to identify the main debates in circulation, the predominant analytical approaches, and the key actors involved in producing this knowledge. The results point to a recent, albeit modest, increase in the field’s interest in China’s technological dynamics, revealing asymmetric trends in approaches by researchers’ geographical location.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Aïmeur, E., Amri, S., & Brassard, G. (2023). Fake news, disinformation and misinformation in social media: a review. Social Network Analysis and Mining, 13, 30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13278-023-01028-5

Aires, J. (2024). Computadores fazem arte, artistas não fazem dinheiro: plataformização, inteligência artificial e a soberania audiovisual nos casos da Netflix e da Globo no Brasil. Liinc, 20(2), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.18617/liinc.v20i2.7324

Alatas, S. F. (2024). The Coloniality of Knowledge and the Autonomous Knowledge Tradition. Sociology Compass, 18(8). https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.13256

Alatas, S. H. (2000). Intellectual Imperialism: Definition, Traits, and Problems. Asian Journal of Social Science, 28(1), 23–45. https://doi.org/10.1163/030382400X00154

Altbach, P. G. (2007). The imperial tongue: English as the dominating academic language. Economic and Political Weekly, 3608–3611.

Avle, S. (2022). Hardware and data in the platform era: Chinese smartphones in Africa. Media, Culture & Society, 44(8), 1473–1489. https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437221128935

Bauer, M. (2008). Análise de conteúdo clássica: uma revisão. In M. W. Bauer & G. Gaskell (Orgs.), Pesquisa qualitativa com texto, imagem e som (2nd ed., pp. 189–217). Vozes.

Brizola, J., & Fantin, N. (2016). Revisão da literatura e revisão sistemática da literatura. Revista de Educação do Vale do Arinos-RELVA, 3(2).

Calvo Rubio, L. M., & Ulfarte Ruiz, M. J. (2020). Percepción de los docentes universitarios, estudiantes, responsables de innovación y periodistas sobre el uso de la inteligencia artificial en periodismo. Revista Internacional de Información y Comunicación, 29(1). https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2020.ene.09

Chung, J. Y., & Jeong, S. H. (2024). Exploring the perceptions of Chinese pre-service teachers on the integration of generative AI in English language teaching: Benefits, challenges, and educational implications. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 14(4), e202457. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/15266

Creemers, R. (2020). China’s Conception of Cyber Sovereignty: Rhetoric and Realization. In D. Broeders & B. van den Berg (Eds.), Governing Cyberspace: Behavior, Power, and Diplomacy (pp. 107–144). Rowman & Littlefield. https://doi.org/10.5040/9798881810733.ch-006

Creemers, R. (2022). China’s emerging data protection framework. Journal of Cybersecurity, 8(1), tyac011. https://doi.org/10.1093/cybsec/tyac011

De Masi, V., Di, Q., Li, S., & Song, Y. (2025). China’s policies and investments in metaverse and AI development: implications for academic research. Online Media and Global Communication, 4(1), 109–139. https://doi.org/10.1515/omgc-2024-0041

De Seta, G. (2021). Huanlian, or changing faces: Deepfakes on Chinese digital media platforms. Convergence, 27(4), 935–953. https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565211030185

Gao, B., Wang, Y., Xie, H., Hu, Y., & Hu, Y. (2023). Artificial Intelligence in Advertising: Advancements, Challenges, and Ethical Considerations in Targeting, Personalization, Content Creation, and Ad Optimization. Sage Open, 13(4), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231210759

Global Times. (2025). China issues guidelines to promote AI education in primary and secondary schools. https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202505/1333878.shtml

Huang, Y., & Chen, C. (2024). Automation of visual communication and aesthetic construction of national image: a computational aesthetic analysis of social bots on Twitter. Online Media and Global Communication, 3(1), 134–150. https://doi.org/10.1515/omgc-2024-0010

Hung, K. (2024). Artificial intelligence as planetary assemblages of coloniality: The new power architecture driving a tiered global data economy. Big Data & Society, 11(4), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517241289443

Kuai, J., Ferrer-Conill, R., & Karlsson, M. (2022). AI ≥ Journalism: How the Chinese Copyright Law Protects Tech Giants’ AI Innovations and Disrupts the Journalistic Institution. Digital Journalism, 10(10), 1893–1912. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2022.2120032

Kuai, J. (2024). Unravelling Copyright Dilemma of AI-Generated News and Its Implications for the Institution of Journalism: The Cases of US, EU, and China. New Media & Society, 26(9), 5150–5168. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448241251798

Lago, J. (2023). Inteligência Artificial em plataformas de streaming, o gerenciamento audiovisual e sua influência em processos decisórios [Unpublished master’s thesis, Universidade de São Paulo]. https://doi.org/10.11606/D.27.2023.tde-14042023-120215

Li, Y. V. (2024). Imagination of humanity’s future: representation and comparison of female cyborg images in generative AI paintings. Feminist Media Studies, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2024.2434639

Lin, B. (2024). Beyond authoritarianism and liberal democracy: Understanding China’s artificial intelligence impact in Africa. Information, Communication & Society, 27(6), 1126–1141. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2023.2239322

Lyu, Y., Wang, X., Lin, R., & Wu, J. (2022). Communication in Human–AI Co-Creation: Perceptual Analysis of Paintings Generated by Text-to-Image System. Applied Sciences, 12(22), 11312. https://doi.org/10.3390/app122211312

McInerney, K. (2024). Yellow Techno-Peril: The ‘Clash of Civilizations’ and anti-Chinese racial rhetoric in the US–China AI arms race. Big Data & Society, 11(2), 20539517241227873. https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517241227873

Moran, R. E., & Shaikh, S. J. (2022). Robots in the News and Newsrooms: Unpacking Meta-Journalistic Discourse on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism. Digital Journalism, 10(10), 1756–1774. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2022.2085129

Nanni, R., Bizzaro, P. G., & Napolitano, M. (2024). The false promise of individual digital sovereignty in Europe: Comparing artificial intelligence and data regulations in China and the European Union. Policy & Internet, 16(4), 711–726. https://doi.org/10.1002/poi3.424

Penglong, G., Diva, M. F., Xue, Z., & Yangyang, Z. (2024). Impact of Artificial Intelligence Usage and Technology Competence on Competitive Advantage with Mediating Role of Effective Information Management System. Profesional de la información, 33(5). https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2024.ene.0501

Rao, Y. (2023). Discourse as infrastructure: How “New Infrastructure” policies re-infrastructure China. Global Media and China, 8(3), 254–270. https://doi.org/10.1177/20594364231198605

Roberts, H., Cowls, J., Morley, J., Taddeo, M., Wang, V., & Floridi, L. (2021). The Chinese approach to artificial intelligence: an analysis of policy, ethics, and regulation. AI & Society, 36, 59–77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-020-00992-2

Roberts, H., Cowls, J., Hine, E., Morley, J., Wang, V., Taddeo, M., & Floridi, L. (2022). Governing artificial intelligence in China and the European Union: Comparing aims and promoting ethical outcomes. The Information Society, 39(2), 79–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2022.2124565

Shin, D., Koerber, A., & Lim, J. S. (2024). Impact of misinformation from generative AI on user information processing: How people understand misinformation from generative AI. New Media & Society, 27(7), 4017–4047. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448241234040

Su, C., & Flew, T. (2021). The rise of Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (BAT) and their role in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Global Media and Communication, 17(1), 67–86. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742766520982324

Suzina, A. C. (2021). English as lingua franca: On the sterilization of scientific work. Media, Culture & Society, 43(1), 171–179. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443720957906

Thussu, D. K. (2018). International Communication: Continuity and Change (3rd ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing.

Trejos-Gil, C., & Gómez-Monsalve, W. (2024). Inteligencia artificial en los medios y el periodismo. Revisión sistemática sobre España y Latinoamérica en las bases de datos Scopus y Web of Science (2018-2022). Palabra Clave, 27(4), 1–35. https://doi.org/10.5294/pacla.2024.27.4.1

Verma, S., Sharma, R., Deb, S., & Maitra, D. (2021). Artificial intelligence in marketing: Systematic review and future research direction. International Journal of Information Management Data Insights, 1(1), 100002. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jjimei.2020.100002

Xi, Y., & Latif, R. A. (2022). Reconstruction of news production driven by artificial intelligence in China. Search. Journal of Media and Communication Research, 14(2), 29–45.

Xi, Y., Ji, A., & Yu, W. (2024). Enhancing or impeding? Exploring the dual impact of anthropomorphism in large language models on user aggression. Telematics and Informatics, 95, 102194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2024.102194

Xu, J. (2024). Opening the ‘black box’ of algorithms: regulation of algorithms in China. Communication Research and Practice, 10(3), 288–296. https://doi.org/10.1080/22041451.2024.2346415

Wang, K., Chai, C. S., Liang, J. C., & Sang, G. (2024). Exploring teachers’ behavioural intentions to design artificial intelligence-assisted learning in Chinese K–12 education. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 33(5), 629–645. https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939X.2024.2369241

Yao, L., Tugiman, N., & Sharipudin, M.-N. S. S. (2024). Virtual human influencers in live streaming commerce on social media platforms: Exploring parasocial interactions with consumers in China. SEARCH Journal of Media and Communication Research, 16(4), 47–59.

Zeng, J., Chan, C. H., & Schäfer, M. S. (2022). Contested Chinese dreams of AI? Public discourse about artificial intelligence on WeChat and People’s Daily Online. Information, Communication & Society, 25(3), 319–340 https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2020.1776372

Zhang, M. (2025, May 15). The China-US AI Race Enters a New and More Dangerous Phase. The Diplomat. https://thediplomat.com/2025/05/the-china-us-ai-race-enters-a-new-and-more-dangerous-phase/

Zhao, L., Wu, X., & Luo, H. (2022). Developing AI Literacy for Primary and Middle School Teachers in China: Based on a Structural Equation Modeling Analysis. Sustainability, 14(21), 14549. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142114549

Zhen, Y., Luo, J. D., & Chen, H. (2023). Prediction of Academic Performance of Students in Online Live Classroom Interactions—An Analysis Using Natural Language Processing and Deep Learning Methods. Journal of Social Computing, 4(1), 12–29. https://doi.org/10.23919/JSC.2023.0007

Zhou, S. (2024). A Survey on the Usefulness of ChatGPT as a Modern Tool for Research in China. Profesional de la información, 33(2). https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2024.0213

Published

2026-04-21

How to Cite

Araujo, M., Barba, M., & Mendes, A. (2026). China and Artificial Intelligence in Communication Journals: A Systematic Review of Scopus and Web of Science Databases. Palabra Clave, 29(1), e2914. https://doi.org/10.5294/pacla.2026.29.1.4

Issue

Section

Articles