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Activity Category: Media Engagement Activity

China Daily Runs Supplement in India’s Hindustan Times

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A China Watch supplement appeared in India’s Hindustan Times on October 30, 2020, as part of China Daily’s global propaganda campaign targeting foreign audiences. The insert featured environmental stories including “Yellow River cleanup brings bright future” and coverage promoting Chinese development initiatives. China’s “China Watch” pages, which have appeared in newspapers across the world, blur the lines between Chinese propaganda and legitimate journalism, with the Chinese Communist Party paying substantial sums—including one million dollars annually to the UK’s Daily Telegraph—for such supplements. These payments represent a key component of China’s external propaganda (外宣) strategy to shape international perceptions.

China Internet Body Holds Global Training

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The World Internet Conference Digital Academy (世界互联网大会数字研修院) held a training program on “Digital Economy Innovation and Development” during the 2025 World Internet Conference Digital Silk Road Development Forum on July 24, 2025. According to a state media readout, the program attracted government officials and business representatives from 26 countries and regions, focusing on data governance and cross-border data flows. Liang Hao (梁昊), the executive deputy secretary-general of the WIC and executive vice-dean of the WICDA, said the academy aims to “inject new vitality into digital development” and build an “open, trustworthy, and shared global digital economy ecosystem.” The training was jointly organized by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), China’s primary internet control body, and featured instructors from Beijing Normal University’s Belt and Road School (北京师范大学”一带一路”学院) and the Asia Academy of Digital Economics, though specific participating countries were not disclosed. The World Internet Conference (WIC) was founded in 2014 as an annual forum hosted by China in Wuzhen, promoting Beijing’s vision of internet governance and digital cooperation. The event, through which China has often tried to force joint declarations with participants to support its views on cyberspace governance, has had limited participation, despite its global branding.

Kenya’s Star Signs Insert Deal with China Daily

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Kenya’s Star newspaper signed a content-sharing agreement with China Daily Africa on July 16, 2025, at the Star’s Westlands headquarters in Nairobi. Radio Africa Group CEO Martin Khafafa and China Daily Africa Director Wang Xiaodong (王晓东) officiated the deal, which will see “China Watch” inserts published weekly in the Star, leveraging its “100,000-copy circulation.” Khafafa welcomed the partnership as showcasing China’s “contributions to Kenya’s economic growth,” while China Daily’s Kennedy Mureithi said the goal was to “break down Western bias” and expand influence across 15 African countries through local partnerships countering “misperceptions” about China’s continental role. This language closely mirrors Chinese state talking points, including Xi Jinping’s notion of “telling China’s story well.” Mureithi was quoted by China Daily as saying: “We believe that by telling our story in our own voice, more Africans will come to appreciate the values, innovations, and opportunities that China offers.” Xi’s notion of “China’s story,” however, does not suggest individual stories but refers to the “discourse power” (話語權) and voice of the Chinese Party-state, which is perpetuated also through restraints on discourse.

Changsha Propaganda Office Runs Joint Event with African Media

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On July 15, 2025, the China-Africa International Communication Alliance (Changsha), a grouping directed by the Propaganda Office of the Changsha Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (長沙市委宣傳部) and hosted by Changsha Media Group (長沙市廣播電視集團), launched its “Harmonious Voices Action” (融聲行動), what it characterized as a “network reaching Africa.” According to a readout on the program by local state media in Changsha, Changsha Broadcasting established “deep cooperation” with six African media organizations and also set up the “Changsha Media Group Africa International Media Cooperation Base” (長沙廣電非洲國際媒體合作基地). They include Sierra Leone’s Tourism Channel (旅遊頻道), Ghana’s Norbea Media Group/ABC TV, Ethiopia’s Fana Media (芳納廣播公司), Nigeria’s News Investigators, the Botswana-based Oriental Post (非洲華僑週報), and the Senegal International Media Station. More than 20 institutions, including the Community of Shared Destiny Research Center of the Communication University of China (中國傳媒大學人類命運共同體研究院), separately joined the broader alliance, which officials said would help “China-Africa friendship stories shine more brightly through cultural exchange” and enable African media to serve as “companions, discoverers and narrators of China’s story” (同行者、發現者與講述者).

CMG Signs Deal with Two Peruvian Media

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On November 20, 2024, América TV and the newspaper El Comercio signed a collaboration agreement with China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台), or CMG, the media conglomerate under China’s Central Propaganda Department. The agreement aims to “produce content that appeals to both Peruvian and Chinese audiences,” according to Fernando Muñiz Bethancourt, CEO of América Multimedia. The collaboration includes program exchange, joint production, technology innovation, and personnel training. Specific projects mentioned in the announcement include news exchange, joint film production, joint content broadcasting, and personnel exchange and training. The agreement was signed during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Lima, which took place from November 13-16, 2024. The Chinese delegation was led by Shen Haixiong (慎海雄), the president and editor-in-chief of CMG, who concurrently serves as a deputy director of the Central Propaganda Department.

CMG Signs MoU to Broadcast 2026 Winter Olympics

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The China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台) signed a memorandum of understanding with Italian foundation Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 on June 23, 2025, to become a rights-holding broadcaster for the Winter Olympic Games in Milano area in February 2026. The state-run media group, directly under the CCP’s Central Propaganda Department, will collaborate on news coverage, program production, and promotional campaigns ahead of and during the Games. CGTN, the Chinese group’s international broadcasting arm, reported that the agreement includes integrating artificial intelligence and 8K ultra-high-definition broadcasting technologies into live coverage. Emphasizing the bilateral significance of the arrangement, the two sides characterized the commercial deal as an opportunity to deepen China-Italy relations, coinciding with the 55th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the People’s Republic of China and Italy, formally established on November 6, 1970.

Xinhua and Jiji Press Sign MoU on Media Cooperation

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China’s Xinhua News Agency (新華社) and Japan’s Jiji Press signed a memorandum of understanding on media cooperation in Tokyo on February 18, 2025. Xinhua President Fu Hua (傅華) and Jiji Press President Katsuhiko Sakai formalized the agreement to strengthen bilateral media ties. Fu Hua (傅華), Xinhua’s president, emphasized the media’s role as “an important bridge for political exchanges, economic cooperation and cultural exchanges among countries.” According to state media, the MoU aims to enhance technical exchanges, expand cooperation in economic information sharing, and coordinate activities within the framework of the World Media Summit (世界媒體峰會) — a China-led body initiated by Xinhua that China has tried to use to shore up its leadership in global media sector. Both media group leaders expressed a commitment to building a long-term partnership. According to state media, Sakai welcomed the agreement as opening “a new chapter” in their cooperative relationship.

Chinese Consul General Meets with Local Media in Laos

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Chinese Consul General in Luang Prabang Li Baoguang (黎宝光) met with Lao Deputy Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Savankhone Razmountry (沙万坤·兰蒙迪) on August 15, 2017, according to reports from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). The meeting, which included officials from Lao state media outlets, including the Lao News Agency (巴特寮) and the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party-run Pasaxon (人民报), focused on what both sides characterized as expanding cooperation between northern Laos and China in media, culture, and tourism. Savankhone praised China’s role in launching “Laos’ first communications satellite” in 2015 and claimed Chinese tourists to Laos were “increasing every year.” Li referenced the planned completion in 2021 of the China-Laos railway, saying it would “significantly increase” bilateral trade and personnel exchanges between the neighboring countries.

China-Arab TV and China’s FECC Discuss Cooperation

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On May 29, 2020, officials from the Investment Promotion Department of China’s Foreign Economic Cooperation Center (外经中心投资促进处), or FECC, an agency under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, met with representatives from China-Arab TV’s Beijing-based China News Center (中阿卫视中国新闻中心) to discuss enhancing China-Arab agricultural cooperation. The meeting focused on leveraging the Dubai-headquartered but Chinese-operated media platform to promote Chinese agricultural technological achievements, boost China’s international agricultural influence, and facilitate investment and trade between Chinese agricultural enterprises and Arab nations. Both parties reached preliminary consensus on cooperation frameworks and development directions, establishing groundwork for future collaborative initiatives in various agricultural sectors between China and Arab countries. The meeting highlighted the important diplomatic and trade role played by China-Arab TV, which a China Media Project investigation in 2024 showed has direct links to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).