China’s Instagram war on COVID-19: picturing healthcare workers and governance in Xinhua’s photographs

China came under intense international scrutiny after it was accused of suppressing information, silencing its doctors, and destroying laboratory evidence that led to the spread of COVID-19. To understand how China attempted to rebuild its reputation, this article examines the visual frames and semiotic devices used to depict Chinese frontline workers and the country’s health governance across 289 photographs posted by China’s state-owned Xinhua News Agency on Instagram. Healthcare workers appeared as soldiers working tirelessly on the COVID-19 battlefield, while also revealing their human emotions and vulnerabilities at times. Further, the efforts of the frontline workers were perpetually showcased as guided by the Chinese leaders who were omnipresent either physically or through Communist symbols. Xinhua’s photographs thus presented the Chinese leadership as the architect in establishing a competent health sector that overcame the pandemic – a paradigm for the world to follow. The study discusses the implications for the state’s portrayal of global health governance during crises.