Xinhua Signs Agreement with ANSA to Launch “Xinhua Italian Service”
Italian news agency ANSA (Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata) and China’s Xinhua News Agency (新華社) signed a collaboration agreement in Rome on March 22, 2019, during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Italy. The agreement established an Italian-language Xinhua news service that ANSA would distribute exclusively through its platforms. Xinhua President Cai Mingzhao (蔡名照), who had served in senior Chinese Communist Party media roles for over two decades, signed the accord with ANSA CEO Stefano De Alessandri. Officials said the service would be “clearly identified and separate from ANSA’s production.” De Alessandri claimed the deal would provide “a broad and systematic information panorama on China” and what he called a “window open on the Chinese system.” The agreement expanded on a 2017 deal between the agencies for news exchange and content collaboration. ANSA terminated the agreement in June 2022.