In May 2021, Italia News Online, a magazine owned by Atlanis srl, announced a content distribution agreement with China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台), China’s state broadcaster under direct control of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Propaganda Department. The deal allows Italia News Online to distribute Italian-language productions from CGTN (中國環球電視網), CMG’s international English-language news channel, through its website and social media channels. According to the announcement, the content focuses on promoting cultural and socio-economic exchanges between Italy and China.
On February 22, 2022, Nicaragua’s Council of Communication and Citizenship (傳播與公民委員會) signed a collaboration agreement with China Media Group (中國媒體集團) to co-create a “Chinese Theater” (中國劇場) programming block for broadcast on Canal 6 (第六頻道), the Ortega government’s flagship state television channel, in a media system that has drawn frequent international criticism for its “favorable government treatment of their businesses and political interests.” The agreement was concluded with CMG’s Television and Film Dubbing Centre (電影電視配音中心) and signed by Daniel Edmundo Ortega Murillo, son of President Daniel Ortega and media coordinator of the Council, alongside a Chinese delegation attending virtually.
On September 20, 2015, the EU Reporter publisher Colin Stevens signed a memorandum of understanding in Beijing with Yang Zhenwu (楊振武), president of the People’s Daily (人民日報), the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper. The two sides agreed to exchange news, features, and video content and to build working relationships between staff in Brussels and Beijing. The signing took place during a People’s Daily-organized “One Belt One Road” (一帶一路) media conference, at which the EU Reporter was described as the only Western European outlet among approximately 60 invited media organizations. Stevens also met with Liu Yunshan (劉雲山), then the Politburo’s fifth-ranked member and the official overseeing propaganda and ideology, at the Great Hall of the People. Stevens claimed the agreement gave the EU Reporter access to a potential Chinese audience of “one point three five billion people,” apparently overlooking that China’s extensive state controls over its domestic news environment make meaningful foreign editorial access effectively impossible. No text of the MOU has been made public. Stevens, who founded the EU Reporter in 2008, has worked for decades as a journalist in the UK.
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.
On April 12, 2021, the Chinese Ambassador to Portugal published a signed article in the Portuguese newspaper Diário de Notícias titled “The Truth about Human Rights Issues in Xinjiang” (關於新疆人權問題的真相). The article reframed the Xinjiang issue as a security matter rather than a human rights concern, characterizing it as one of “anti-violence, counter-terrorism, and anti-separatism” (反暴力、反恐怖主義和反分裂問題), according to the Chinese embassy. The article also claimed that ethnic minority cultures in Xinjiang had been “well preserved” and highlighted economic growth over the previous 60 years. The piece responded to longstanding accusations by Western governments and human rights organizations regarding mass detention, forced labor, and cultural suppression in Xinjiang. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which passed the U.S. Senate in July 2021 and was signed into law in December 2021, prohibited imports of goods from Xinjiang unless importers could prove they were not made with forced labor.
On October 24, 2023, a signing ceremony for the “China Time” project was held at RTVC Sistema de Medios Públicos (Radio Televisión Nacional de Colombia) in Bogotá. The signing established a formal media cooperation agreement between Colombian public broadcaster RTVC and Chinese media entities as part of the “Chinese Television Theater” initiative’s expansion into Latin America. The project was organized by China’s National Radio and Television Administration (國家廣播電視總局) and the Chongqing Municipal Government. Chongqing Jiazuo Film and Culture Media Co. (重慶佳左影視文化傳媒有限公司) and Classic Media China Internacional (經典傳媒中國國際有限公司), a Chinese-based company operating in Peru, signed the cooperation memorandum with the Colombian broadcaster. The ceremony featured exhibitions of Chongqing’s cultural heritage, including paper cutting, embroidery, lacquer screens, tea ceremonies, and Tai Chi performances. According to Chinese state media, the program aims to broadcast Chinese television series, documentaries, and films to “nearly 500 million Latin American viewers,” including shows like The Three-Body Problem, Mountain and Sea Love, and youth-oriented narratives. Chinese officials described the agreement as having “milestone significance” in China’s media collaboration with Latin American countries.
On June 29, 2024, China’s official People’s Daily (人民日报) newspaper and Kazakh media organizations held a “High-Quality Belt and Road Joint Interview Results Sharing Conference” in Astana, Kazakhstan. The event was attended by Kazakh Parliament Upper House members Galiyaska Sarebayev and Alisher Satvardiyev, with media participants including People’s Daily Deputy Editor-in-Chief Xu Lijing (徐立京) and Zihan Kamzabekulei, the general manager of the Kazakhstan Truth newspaper group. According to official Chinese media coverage, the participants claimed the joint initiative would help media “play a bridge role” and “tell the Silk Road story well” — an echo of Xi Jinping’s policy on the conduct of external propaganda (外宣). Another theme of the event was advancing “high-quality Belt and Road construction” (高质量共建”一带一路”) between China and Kazakhstan.
On December 4, 2024, the Keizai Koho Center (經濟廣報中心), the international communications arm of Keidanren (經團連), Japan’s most influential business lobby, hosted its annual reception for Chinese media correspondents and Japanese corporate representatives in Tokyo. Held yearly since 2005, the event was paused during the COVID-19 pandemic and resumed in 2022. According to KKC, over 70 attendees participated, including 45 journalists from 24 Chinese media outlets such as China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台), Xinhua News Agency (新華通訊社), and People’s Daily (人民日報). KKC Senior Managing Director Ryo Watanabe referenced the November 2024 Japan-China summit in Peru, at which Prime Minister Ishiba and President Xi reaffirmed their commitment to “constructive and stable” bilateral relations.
A gala performance for the Lunar New Year was held in Sydney on February 8, 2016, showcasing Xinjiang culture to overseas Chinese communities. The event was co-organized by the Australian Chinese Arts and Literature Association (澳華文聯), Australia’s Nanhai Media (南海傳媒), and the Australia-China Xinjiang Association (澳大利亞中國新疆聯誼會). The evening featured top Xinjiang artists performing Uyghur songs, dances, instrumental music, and variety performances, including selections from the Twelve Muqam, designated a UNESCO World Heritage in 2005. The “Cultural China, Charming Xinjiang” touring program, launched in 2006, had previously performed in Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, India, and Malaysia, reaching over 70,000 audience members.
