How did Chinese news media frame the US-China trade talks? A case study of People’s Daily and China Daily

China has a very special media system with unique Chinese characteristics. Chinese media exhibits "Marxist Journalism," features which emphasize party principle as the primary feature. This study investigates and compares online news reports on the websites of two Chinese news media outlets People's Daily and China Daily regarding the US-China trade talks. The goal is to examine how do they frame the US-China trade talk and discuss what factors influenced their framing. The findings are connected to the theoretical discussion on Chinese media system, Marxist journalism and advocacy journalism. This study finds that both People’s Daily and China Daily advocate for the Chinese government and the Party regarding the US-China trade talks, which is deeply influenced by Marxist journalism in the context of Chinese media system. While People’s Daily focused on positive publicity, China Daily more emphasized working as a public diplomacy tool.