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Activity Category: Media Engagement Activity

Chinese Embassy Hosts Zimbabwe China Film Festival

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The 2025 Zimbabwe-China Film Festival opened in Harare on August 5, attended by Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Zhou Ding (周鼎) and over 200 officials and diplomatic representatives. The festival, co-hosted by the Chinese Embassy, China’s National Film Administration, and Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Sport, Entertainment, Arts and Culture, featured four Chinese films, including Panda Plan, YOLO, The Captain, and Red Sea Operation. Ambassador Zhou emphasized that the festival demonstrated China’s “Global Civilization Initiative” and aimed to deepen cultural understanding during Zimbabwe’s 45th year of diplomatic relations with China. Deputy Director Luo Yang (羅楊) of China’s National Film Administration noted this year marks the 130th anniversary of world cinema and 120th of Chinese cinema, expressing hopes for expanded film industry cooperation. Zimbabwean Deputy Minister of Sport, Entertainment, Arts and Culture Jessaya welcomed the festival as supporting the country’s “Film Strategy 2025-2030,” while a representative from Zimbabwe’s Film Association praised the strengthened bilateral cultural exchange.

Xinhua Signs Five International Media Agreements

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On December 2, 2023, China’s state news agency Xinhua News Agency (新華社) signed cooperation agreements with multiple foreign media outlets and institutions during the 5th World Media Summit in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. The agreements, covering news exchanges, personnel visits, and integrated media development, were signed by Fu Hua (傅華), president of Xinhua News Agency, alongside representatives from Argentina, the Philippines, Russia, Burundi, and Barbados. María Bernarda Llorente, president of Argentina’s state news agency Télam, described the agreement as having “great significance” for strengthening media collaboration between the two countries. Luis Ausan Morente from the Philippine News Agency expressed hopes for increased personnel exchanges, while Andrey Pershin from Russia’s Rossiyskaya Gazeta said the agreement “opened up new prospects for collaboration.” The 5th World Media Summit, themed “Boosting global confidence, promoting media development,” attracted over 450 participants from 101 countries and regions, including representatives of 197 mainstream media outlets. Xinhua reports having signed cooperation agreements with over 3,600 institutions worldwide, including media outlets, government departments, and higher learning institutions.

China and Nigeria Sign Media Cooperation Agreement

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China and Nigeria signed a Memorandum of Understanding on August 11, 2017, in Abuja to enhance media and information cooperation between the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation of Nigeria and China’s State Council Information Office (國務院新聞辦公室). Nigerian Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed described the agreement as “a very important milestone in diplomatic relations” and outlined objectives including news exchange, joint coverage, training programs for Nigerian journalists and media practitioners, and cooperation in animation and film co-production. The Vice Minister of China’s State Council Information Office stated the MoU marked “a new beginning” in bilateral media relations and committed to scaling up news coverage about Nigeria in China.

China and Zimbabwe Hold Film Promotion Event

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On August 8, 2018, the China-Africa Friendly Economic and Trade Development Foundation (中非友好經貿發展基金會) hosted a promotional event in Beijing for the film “When Africa Meets You” (非洲遇見你). The event took place in the context of heightened China-Africa relations, as President Xi Jinping had recently completed a four-country African tour in July 2018, visiting Senegal, Rwanda, South Africa, and Mauritius, ahead of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in September 2018. The film promotion featured participation from diplomats, including Zimbabwe’s Deputy Chief of Mission Mugabekuru Spencer Dube, representatives from over twenty Chinese state-owned enterprises, including CITIC Group and China Railway Construction Corporation, and former Chinese Ambassador to Guinea Zhao Lixing (趙立興). Emphasizing the films foreign relations value, producer Wan Minfang (宛敏芳) described the production as “the first comprehensive film shot in Zimbabwe,” which she expressly noted was “once called Europe’s backyard.” The film was released theatrically and, according to Chinese media, grossed $157,273 worldwide.

NAN and Xinhua Sign Information Partnership Agreement

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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) signed a memorandum of understanding with Xinhua News Agency (新華通訊社) in May 2019 to promote China’s Belt and Road Economic Information Partnership (BREIP) initiative. The West Africa Bureau Chief of Xinhua News Agency described the initiative as a “business arrangement to complement the efforts of member countries on the development strategy” related to the Belt and Road Initiative. BREIP was established by Xinhua News Agency in June 2019 as an information-sharing platform connecting news agencies, research institutions, and business associations from countries participating in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The partnership aims to facilitate economic information exchange and reduce “information deficit” between participating countries. NAN Managing Director and its Editor-in-Chief expressed support for the initiative, with Onanuga stating it would “protect the interests of countries along the Belt and Road initiative.”

Chinese Media Delegation Visits Myanmar and Thailand

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On June 15, 2015, departing from Beijing, a five-member Chinese news delegation led by Farmers’ Daily (農民日報) Editor-in-Chief Tang Yuanjie (唐園結) visited Myanmar and Thailand at the invitation of Myanmar’s Ministry of Information and the Thai Journalists Association (泰國記者協會). The delegation, comprising representatives from Farmers’ Daily, Ningxia Daily Media Group (寧夏日報報業集團), Zhejiang Daily Media Group (浙江日報報業集團), Jilin Journalists Association (吉林省記協), and All-China Journalists Association (中國記協), planned to visit government departments, mainstream media outlets, and journalist organizations in both countries. In a readout from ACJA, officials said the mission was to facilitate “media cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative” (一帶一路倡議下的媒體合作), describing the visit as promoting regional media collaboration, though the timing aligned with China’s broader diplomatic campaign to build Southeast Asian support for its Belt and Road Initiative through media partnerships.

Belt and Road Documentary Launches in Kabul

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On December 5, 2017, Kabul News TV launched the five-episode documentary “The Belt and Road Story of China and Afghanistan” (中國與阿富汗”一帶一路”故事) at a ceremony in Kabul. The documentary features interviews with officials from China and Afghanistan, focusing on exchanges under China’s Belt and Road Initiative. More than 30 attendees included Zhang Zhixin (張志新), Chargé d’Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Afghanistan, Deputy Minister of Information and Culture Sayada Muzagan Mustafavi, and Kabul News TV CEO Ghulam Gilani Zawak. Zhang praised the documentary’s “clear theme and rich content,” stating that it reflects developing bilateral relations in culture and trade with “positive significance for enhancing people-to-people understanding.” “People-to-people” exchange refers in the discourse of the Chinese Communist Party to efforts to enhance ties and press agendas through interactions below the state level — though these exchanges consistently involve state-backed entities, including government-run NGOS, on the China side. Mustafavi said the documentary was “broadcast at the right time to meet the needs of cultural exchange,” helping “more Afghans understand and love China.” Kabul News TV, established in 2011, produces programming in Dari and Pashto and previously imported the 100-episode documentary “Hello, China” in 2015, providing “a window for the Afghan public to understand China.”

China Hosts Fourth Myanmar Journalists Training Program

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On July 3-13, 2018, in Kunming, Beijing, and Shanghai, the All-China Journalists Association (中國記協) and Yunnan Provincial Journalists Association (雲南省記協) hosted the fourth Myanmar Journalists Training Program (緬甸記者研修班) for 20 media workers from the Myanmar Journalists Association, Myanmar National Radio and Television (緬甸國家廣播電視台), and Myanmar International Television (緬甸國際電視台). Chinese officials claimed the program, which featured sessions on Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and Road Initiative and new media techniques, would “effectively promote exchange and cooperation” between Chinese and Myanmar media. According to a report from the official Yunnan Daily newspaper, participants from Myanmar expressed interest in technical cooperation and described China-Myanmar relations as offering “new opportunities everywhere.”

Nanfang Media Group Signs Agreement with SPH Media

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On June 6, 2019, China’s Nanfang Media Group (南方報業傳媒集團) signed a cooperation agreement with Singapore Press Holdings’ Chinese Media Group (華文媒體集團), establishing the “Guangdong-Singapore International Communication Platform” (粵新國際傳播平台), described in coverage by China’s official Xinhua News Agency as the first long-term media cooperation mechanism between Guangdong Province and Singapore. The agreement was signed during the opening ceremony of the China (Guangdong)-Singapore Media and Culture Exchange Week in Singapore. According to Xinhua, the partnership includes plans for the English-language site of Guangdong’s Nanfang Online (南方网) and Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao to launch a “Singaporeans Look at Guangdong” interview series, and the two sides will jointly organize online interactive activities to collect impressions of Singapore and Guangdong from netizens in both regions.