China’s English journals of humanities and social sciences play a pivotal role in shaping global perceptions of Chinese society. This paper adopts the perspective of national image construction to explore strategies for enhancing the issue-setting capacity of China’s English-language journals in humanities and social sciences. Based on international recognition, data accessibility, and research perspective of national image construction, this analysis selects four journals from Chinese Mainland indexed in SSCI and ESCI as data sources: two SSCI-indexed journals (China Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal on Greater China and Journal of Asian Public Policy) and two ESCI-indexed journals (International Communication of Chinese Culture and China and Asia). Allthese four journals are within the field of area studies. Chinese topics systematically present the landscape of domestic governance and international interactions, serving as a crucial point for agenda-setting analysis from the perspective of national image construction. Therefore, 210 articles published between 2023—2024 addressing Chinese topics (TOPIC = China or Chinese) were collected from these four sample journals (hereafter referred to as China’s English-language journal articles, with the average citation of 1.8). Then, an additional 210 top-cited SSCI articles on Chinese topics in the field of area studies were collected as well (referred to as global top papers hereafter, with the average citation of 12.3). Both datasets underwent keyword co-occurrence analysis using VOSViewer 1.6.18. Additionally, special issues/columns focusing on Chinese topics from both the sample journals and the top SSCI journals in the field of area studies were analyzed. The findings reveal distinct differences in issue-setting directions between the two article groups. China’s English-language journal articles tend to focus on domestic issues, addressing topics including culture and communication, education and technology, social governance, and government policies. In contrast, global top papers demonstrate a dual focus: on one hand, they similarly explore issues with strong Chinese characteristics, such as the effectiveness of China’s governance and major national strategies; on the other hand, they reflect broader global concerns, including China’s foreign relations and global governance participation. Further analysis of keywords and special issues reveals three key findings: 1) Chinese journals show insufficient attention to national strategies, potentially restricting international community’s in-depth understanding of China; 2) China’s English-language journals lack a global perspective and fail to adequately reflect China’s international contributions and responsibilities, which limits China’s international recognition; and 3) their scattered themes and deviation from international hotspots in China’s English-language journals weaken international clarity and distinction on China’s national image. This study recommends that China’s English-language journals in humanities and social sciences take a more proactive role in promoting the country’s national strategies, highlighting China’s important role in the international landscape and its contributions to global affairs, and engage more directly with trending international political discourse. Such approaches would enhance mutual understanding and international recognition, thereby strengthening China’s global discourse power and shaping a positive national image.