The official discourse of the Chinese middle class: anxiety, nationalism and populism

Abstract

The media have played a key role in the dissemination of an official middle-class discourse that emerged in the People’s Republic of China two decades ago. The emergence and construction of a middle-class discourse in China will be analysed through news items published in Renmin Wang (People’s Daily Online), the digital version of the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), in order to answer the question: why does the CCP promote an official middle-class discourse in China? The findings suggest that the Party-State legitimises its authority by taking different stances based on a populist nationalism that fosters a new identity consistent with neoliberal values, which goes hand in hand with the discourse of the middle class.