Skip to main content

Activity Category: Media Engagement Activity

Chinese and Russian Media Expand Cooperation Plans for 2026

The 18th meeting of the Media Cooperation Subcommission under the China-Russia Humanitarian Cooperation Committee (中俄人文合作委员会) convened virtually on October 20, 2025, with more than 40 representatives from both nations. News of the meeting was first reported by Rossiyskaya Gazeta (俄罗斯报) a newspaper published by the Russian government. The session was co-chaired by Dong Xin (董昕), the vice director of China’s National Radio and Television Administration (国家广播电视总局), or NRTA, a ministry-level agency under the CCP’s Central Propaganda Department that oversees radio and television enterprises, and by Bella Cherkesova, Russia’s Deputy Minister of Digital Development. Chinese participants included representatives from the Central Propaganda Department, People’s Daily (人民日报), Xinhua News Agency (新华社), and China Media Group (中央广播电视总台). Russian attendees represented the Foreign Ministry, TASS (塔斯社), a Russian government news agency, and Russia Today (RT), Russia’s state-controlled international news television network. The meeting approved plans for more than 70 joint media projects.

2024 Global South Media Forum Opens in South Africa

The “Global South Media and Think Tank High-End Forum China-Africa Partners Conference”(全球南方”媒體智庫高端論壇中非夥伴大會)  was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from November 13-14, 2024, co-hosted by Xinhua News Agency (新華社), the African Union, and Independent Media. More than 200 representatives from more than 160 media outlets, think tanks, and government departments from China and 41 African countries attended, Xinhua reported. Participants discussed building media partnerships to shape international narratives and challenge what the forum characterized as Western dominance over global governance and narrative systems. Independent Media Group Chairman Iqbal Survé (伊克巴爾·瑟弗) — whose companies have come under investigation in recent years for potential state capture and corruption — said the Global South’s call for its “rightful place” (應有之位) in international narratives should not be ignored. In a bylined column in Zambia’s The Star earlier in November 2025, Survé directly appropriated Xi Jinping’s “shared future” discourse to promote greater BRICS cooperation. The Johannesburg forum launched an action plan for coordinating China-Africa media cooperation through joint news coverage, content sharing, journalist training, and collaborative digital platforms.

China Media Group Signs “China Theater” Broadcasting Agreement with Radiodiffusion Télévision Sénégalaise

On July 19, 2018, China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台), or CMG, and Radiodiffusion Télévision Sénégalaise (塞內加爾國家電視台), or RTS, signed a framework agreement in Dakar to establish a “China Theater” (中國劇場) programming block on RTS, according to a report by international radio broadcaster China Radio International (中國國際廣播電台), or CRI. Gao Shijun (高世軍), head of CMG’s Western Europe bureau (西歐總站), signed on behalf of CMG, while RTS president Racine Talla signed for the Senegalese side. Under the agreement, RTS agreed to broadcast French-dubbed Chinese dramas, documentaries, feature films, and animation produced or translated by CMG. The signing took place at the launch ceremony of the “Chinese Film and Television Africa Screening Plan” (中國影視非洲放映計劃), attended by Zhang Yanbin (張雁彬), special representative of China’s State Council Information Office, who said in remarks that the initiative was timed to coincide with an upcoming state visit by President Xi Jinping to Senegal, and described it as a vehicle for “people-to-people connectivity” as promoted by the Belt and Road Initiative (一帶一路). China’s ambassador to Senegal, Zhang Xun (張迅), also attended, framing the programming block as a contribution to “civilizational exchange” between China and Africa.

Liberia Broadcasting System and China Media Group Sign Partnership Agreement

The Liberia Broadcasting System and China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台) signed a two-year partnership agreement on August 5, 2024, aimed at strengthening media cooperation between China and Liberia. The memorandum of understanding establishes frameworks for content exchange, technical cooperation, and personnel training. LBS Director General Eugene Fahngon emphasized the agreement’s role in boosting “mutual benefit between the two peoples,” while China Media Group Africa Bureau Chief Song Jianing expressed confidence in scaling their collaboration to “new heights.” China Media Group is a state-controlled broadcast group formed in 2018 through the merger of China Central Television, China National Radio, and China Radio International, while LBS is Liberia’s state-owned broadcaster that has previously received significant Chinese technical assistance, including a 10 kW FM transmitter installed by China in 2008.

CMG Donates Media Equipment to Antigua Broadcasting Service

On May 29, 2024, the China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台) donated digital video cameras and broadcasting equipment to the Antigua Broadcasting Service (ABS), the state-controlled broadcaster of Antigua and Barbuda. The formal handover ceremony in Saint John’s was attended by Antigua’s ministers and the Chinese Ambassador. The Ambassador said the donation would “greatly promote media cooperation between the two countries” and improve reporting capabilities — employing a standard CCP foreign relations frame that emphasizes bilateral “cooperation” as a vehicle for deepening ties and influence. The donation, however, raised concerns over possible Chinese manipulation.

NRTA Holds Media Seminar for Global South Journalists in Beijing

African journalists from seven Belt and Road countries participated in a two-week new media training seminar in Beijing from October 17-30, 2025, organized by China’s National Radio and Television Administration (國家廣播電視總局), a ministry-level agency controlled by the Chinese Communist Party’s Propaganda Department. Media professionals from The Gambia, Barbados, Panama, Jordan, Botswana, Turkey, and Nigeria attended sessions covering international communication, digital platform trends, content development, and intellectual property creation. An official from the NRTA’s International Cooperation Department opened the seminar by outlining Chinese cultural values and governance philosophy, emphasizing the growing influence of new media on public opinion, according to The Point. Participants also visited the Juyongguan section of the Great Wall and explored topics such as the current digital media environment.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ The event was organized by the Research Training Institute under the NRTA.

CMG Signs Cooperation Agreement with Venezuelan Communication Ministry

On September 13, 2023, the China Media Group ( 中央廣播電視總台), or CMG, and Venezuela’s Ministry of Popular Power for Communication and Information (Minci) signed a memorandum of understanding in Beijing. The signing took place during Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s state visit to China and was witnessed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Maduro. The president of China Media Group and  Venezuela’s communication minister signed the agreement. According to Chinese state media, the agreement established mechanisms for cooperation in content exchange, program co-production, technical innovation, market development, and personnel exchanges, which related reports characterized as strengthening the China-Venezuela “all-weather strategic partnership” through media collaboration.

China Media Group and Malaysia’s RTM Sign Broadcast Partnership

Malaysia and China signed a memorandum during Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s (李強) three-day official visit to Malaysia in June 2024, establishing cooperation between Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) and China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台). Malaysian Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching (張念群) announced on Facebook that the memorandum aims to “strengthen, promote and develop” bilateral cooperation in broadcasting, media, and creative industries. She claims the agreement will diversify media resources between the countries and deepen exchanges. Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Malaysia-China diplomatic relations, the two broadcasters have jointly produced a documentary titled “Our Story” that reportedly showcases bilateral friendship through the narrative of a giant panda’s growth between the two countries. This agreement continues China’s pattern of formalizing media partnerships with state broadcasters in strategically important nations, with China Media Group operating under direct control of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Propaganda Department.

China Media Group Co-hosts Event at UN Headquarters

On August 13, 2025, the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations and the state-run China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台) co-hosted a cultural exchange event at the United National Headquarters in New York to commemorate the the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War — China’s language for the end of World War II. In remarks to the event, called “Echoes of Peace,” Fu Cong (傅聰), the PRC’s permanent representative to the UN, said China was “proud to be the first country to sign the United Nations Charter,” a statement obscuring the fact that it was the Republic of China (ROC), the current government of Taiwan, that originally signed the Charter in 1945. Shen Haixiong (慎海雄), president of China Media Group, delivered video remarks stating the event aimed to “promote the correct historical view of World War II.” According to Shen, the correct view meant recognizing “the united front against Japanese aggression advocated and established under the banner of the Chinese Communist Party.” The remarks highlighted a key propaganda aspect of 80th anniversary celebrations organized by China, which were meant to rewrite the history of China’s war of resistance to define the CCP’s role as primary — and the CCP, by extension, as a key founder of the UN system.