China is playing an increasingly important role in the sphere of global governance. This includes the field of development cooperation. In tandem with China’s increased influence, the Chinese government sees a need to be able to shape the way its activities are perceived abroad. To achieve this goal, it engages in public diplomacy and nation branding with the intention to enhance China’s soft power. The paper sets out to investigate how the government agency China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) uses social media to shape the image of Chinese development cooperation. The paper’s central research question is to identify how and what the CIDCA is communicating on the platforms Facebook and WeChat. By examining the discourse employed on social media, an understanding of how CIDCA wants Chinese development interventions to be perceived both abroad and domestically may be granted. The analysis builds on a theoretical framework based on Enghel and Noske-Turner’s work on “looking good” and “doing good” in development communication, as well as the Chinese government’s stated priorities in development cooperation. Through a comparative content analysis of social media posts (written text and images) it is concluded that there are significant differences between the content posted on the two platforms. Among possible motives for CIDCA to use different content are to shape a positive image of Chinese aid abroad, to take away attention from inconvenient facts and to enable China to actively shape international discourse around development.