On April 10, 2018, during a visit to China by Mongolian Prime Minister Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh, the Montsame News Agency (蒙古國通訊社) and the Xinhua News Agency (新華通訊社) renewed cooperation in a deal signed by Montsame’s deputy director and Xinhua’s vice president in Beijing. The original partnership between the two began in 1958, when the agencies signed their first news exchange agreement in China’s capital. Since then, both agencies have maintained correspondents in Ulaanbaatar and Beijing and have continued developing their cooperation, state media reported without details. The agencies plan to collaborate in several areas: exchanging news in Chinese, Russian, and English; organizing journalist tours and training sessions; co-hosting photo exhibitions; and providing internships for young reporters.
On February 13, 2019, the Chinese Embassy in Manila donated smartphones, computers, teleprompters, and video cameras to the Presidential Broadcasting Service (PBS) and the Philippine News Agency (PNA), both outlets of the Philippine government under the supervision of the News and Information Bureau (NIB). The handover ceremony, held at the Government Media Center, was attended by the Presidential Communications Secretary, the director of PBS, and the executive editor of PNA. The Chinese ambassador, Zhao Jianhua (赵鉴华), emphasized communication’s vital role in cementing “friendship” between the two nations, resorting to a common CCP foreign relations frame that implies accommodation of China’s core interests. Zhao praised the PCOO under Secretary Andanar for promoting bilateral relations and delivering friendly messages to both Filipino and Chinese audiences. He expressed willingness to help improve PCOO facilities as an appreciation for their work. The donation is an example of China’s broader overseas media strategy of providing technical equipment and resources to local news organizations as a means of building relationships and influence.
On June 2, 2025, the Chinese Ambassador to Sweden Cui Aimin (崔爱民) was interviewed by the Swedish online media outlet NewsVoice to commemorate the 75th anniversary of China-Sweden diplomatic relations. In the interview, the ambassador promoted bilateral cooperation in green technology and trade, defended China’s response to US tariffs, and encouraged Sweden to join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and BRICS cooperation mechanisms. He also said that “embracing China is embracing opportunities” and characterized both China and the EU as “victims” of US tariffs. Echoing China’s official position that his country practices “whole-process democracy” (全过程民主), Cui told the outlet that “each country’s democracy has its own features.”
China hosted the 2025 China-Africa Internet Development and Cooperation Forum on September 28, 2025, in Xiamen, bringing together approximately 400 representatives from government agencies, universities, think tanks and news media from China and 32 African countries. The forum, themed “Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace and Writing a New Chapter in China-Africa Digital Cooperation” — drawing on Xi Jinping’s foreign policy notion of “shared destiny” as applied to the internet — was organized by the Cyberspace Administration of China (國家互聯網信息辦公室) and the Fujian Provincial People’s Government (福建省人民政府). Chinese officials unveiled the 2025-2026 Action Plan for Building a China-Africa Cyberspace Community with a Shared Future (携手构建中非网络空间命运共同体行动计划) and established the “China-Africa Internet Enterprise Cooperation Network” (中国在非洲互联网企业合作网络), while announcing continued training programs on cybersecurity and digital economy. The forum featured four sub-forums addressing digital divide reduction and digital transformation, artificial intelligence development and governance, cybersecurity and data governance, and online media cooperation. State media coverage reported that African representatives “endorsed” China’s proposed cooperation initiatives, and said that the forum aligned with African countries’ digital transformation needs and expressing willingness to deepen collaboration with China in digital economy, cybersecurity, data protection, artificial intelligence governance and online media sectors. Such initiatives are generally organized, announced and hosted in a unilateral manner by Chinese government entities, even as the discourse stresses them as bilateral or multilateral in nature. The Xiamen meeting also presented 7 participants from African countries (called “friends”) with certificates under “China Storytelling Partnerships” ( 中国故事共创会), which media said recognized those who work “to tell China’s stories, spread Chinese culture, and show the world a real, three-dimensional, and comprehensive China.” The language echoes China’s official policy on external propaganda.
On October 12, 2018, the Chinese Consulate General in Kuching launched the “Love Chinese Language” reading program with Sin Chew Daily (星洲日報). The initiative targeted 222 Chinese primary schools in Sarawak, featuring newspaper reading promotion, language competitions, and wall newspaper design contests. Chinese Consul General Cheng Guangzhong (程廣中) said he hoped the program would help children develop Chinese reading habits and that Malaysian Chinese were “upholding the fine tradition of respecting teachers and valuing education” and “inheriting and developing Chinese language education.” Malaysian Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching (張念群) stated the federal government would take a “more open and enlightened attitude” toward Chinese education. State official Sim Kui Hian (沈桂賢) expressed hope that Chinese universities would establish branch campuses in Sarawak. About 200 people attended the launch at Kuching Chinese Primary School No. 1. The program was reported by Xinhua News Agency as part of efforts to promote Chinese language education development in Malaysia.
China and Cambodia held a Mid-Autumn Festival cultural gala on September 28, 2025, in Phnom Penh, featuring performances by artists from both countries. The event, drawing on Chinese Communist Party frame of “friendship” (友谊), was titled “Colorful Clouds Chasing the Moon: Deep Neighborly Affection.” It was organized by Cambodia’s Ministry of Information, Ministry of Tourism, China’s embassy in Cambodia, and Yunnan province’s propaganda office (中共雲南省委宣傳部), as part of the China-Cambodia Tourism Year. Chinese performers presented classical dance works a Yunnan Yi ethnic dance called “Stepping on Clouds,” while Cambodian artists performed traditional pieces such as the “Apsara Dance” and a selection from the historical drama “Zhou Daguan Meets Zhenla” (周达观遇见真腊) called titled “Moon Over Angkor.” Zhou Daguan was a Chinese official during the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty who visited the kingdom of Angkor in the 13th century and stayed for a time at the court of King Indrvarman III. Zhou is often cited in Chinese official accounts as an early example of “friendly” foreign relations with Cambodia and Southeast Asia more broadly. The involvement of the Yunnan provincial propaganda office in the event underscored the province’s continued role as a platform for China’s cultural and economic engagement in Southeast Asia.
China and Vietnam held a Mid-Autumn Festival cultural gala on September 25, 2025, at the Vietnam National Opera and Ballet Theatre in Hanoi, featuring performances by artists from both countries. The event, titled “Colorful Clouds Chasing the Moon: Deep Neighborly Affection” — emphasizing longstanding Communist Party notions of “friendship” — was organized by China’s embassy in Vietnam, Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and Yunnan province’s propaganda office (中共雲南省委宣傳部), marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Vietnamese performers presented traditional pieces while Chinese artists performed works featuring traditional instruments alongside dance and tai chi. The event highlighted Yunnan’s role as a key platform in China’s regional engagement strategy toward Southeast Asia.
On September 29, 2025, in Hong Kong, Chief Executive John Lee (李家超) met China Media Group (CMG) President and Editor-in-Chief Shen Haixiong (慎海雄) at Government House to discuss strengthening cooperation in communications, with Director of Information Services Apollonia Liu (劉李可頤) also attending. Mr Shen was leading a delegation to Hong Kong for a ceremony marking deepened cooperation between CMG and various sectors in the city. Lee expressed gratitude to CMG for “supporting the work” of the Hong Kong SAR Government and said the state broadcaster’s programming helps Hong Kong citizens “better understand the country’s history and development, enhancing their sense of national identity.” The Chief Executive said Hong Kong would “deepen co-operation with CMG by leveraging its international communication network to jointly tell the world good stories of China and Hong Kong,” language invoking Xi’s 2013 policy on external propaganda.
On September 28, 2025, in Macau, China Media Group (CMG) and the Macau Special Administrative Region signed a framework agreement to “deepen strategic cooperation” in news reporting, talent exchange, international communication and sports events, with Macao SAR Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai (贺一诚) and CMG President Shen Haixiong (慎海雄) attending the ceremony. Officials at the signing ceremony said the partnership would help Macao “enhance its international communication capabilities” (提升国际传播能力) and build the region into an “exchange and cooperation base with Chinese culture as the mainstream.” Zheng Xincong (郑新聪), the head of the PRC government’s Liaison Office in Macau, described the agreement as establishing “an important platform” for “telling Macao’s stories to the world” and providing “new impetus” for CMG to become a “world-class, new-type mainstream media group” — the term “mainstream” in this context meaning that it aligns with the goals of the Chinese Communist Party.
