Developments in China often attract interest in Western media.

Coverage comes not only from correspondents dealing with international news, but also from leading journalists and columnists who often see the economic rise of the country as a threat for the US and Europe.

The so-called peaceful development of China is not always welcome. In recent days, special emphasis has been naturally given to the announcement of its future reforms as they were presented in official documents.

The initial reaction of Western media was to consider the initiatives of President Xi Jinping as striking and future-oriented, highlighting a rupture with the past.

The Economist, for instance, asserts that not since the years of Mao Zedong "has a Chinese leader been so quick to unveil such a wide-ranging blueprint for change."

The same magazine also illustrates Xi as winning the battle, at least for the time being. Other sources such the Financial Times do not journey back to the era of Mao Zedong but to that of Deng Xiaoping.

Foreign journalists tend to focus on two aspects. The first is the potential transformation of the nature of the Chinese economy allowing deeper involvement of the private sector.

The second - and perhaps the more important one - is the social dimension of the announced reforms. The relaxation of the traditional one-child policy and the abolishment of the re-education through the labor system have occupied the lion's share of media discourse.

The German opinion-forming newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, for example, uses the adjective impressive to describe the reform blueprint, while Britain's The Times uses the term "sweeping."

This stance by Western media is not surprising. Given the fact significant personalities such as former US president Bill Clinton have expressed their support for China's deepening of reforms, it was a logical consequence to follow the same path.

In spite of a few significant exceptions, the ones who set the agenda are politicians, not the media.

Regardless, many Western journalists have already started to frame the initiatives of President Xi in a rather cautious way. They regard his plan as highly ambitious, but say it must be followed in practice.

In their view, implementation is rather different than theory, while "accidents" might also occur during the transition period creating important obstacles - if not troubles - for the new Chinese leadership.

Furthermore, some Western media have already embarked on an attempt to underestimate the possibility of success regarding specific aspects of the reform package in order to negatively predispose readers.

For example, the Wall Street Journal questioned whether easing family planning policies would boost the economy, and ironically said that the policy might principally "help toy makers and tutors."

Last but not least, there are journalists who criticize Xi for his assertiveness. They express their skepticism that the new president of China will take on more responsibilities.

Another US newspaper, The New York Times, for example, published an article on the matter, providing a rather shallow analysis by drawing comparisons between China and Russia, even though the Chinese leader only came to power last year.

To sum up, the coverage of the recently published document on the future of Chinese reforms has generated ambivalent reactions in Western media discourse. The coverage contains elements of fair news-reporting but also of biased journalistic practices.

It is not the first time the image of China has been constructed in a negative way in the West. The relative slowdown of its economy was also similarly portrayed three months ago.

It seems that Western media are continuously looking at developments in China from their own perspective, endorsing their own style of governance and considering it as a model to be necessarily applied in other countries. Accuracy cannot be achieved that way.

The author is a research fellow at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn