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Activity Category: Media Engagement Activity

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.

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).

Science and Technology Daily Cooperation Partnership with Nouvelles d’Europe

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Nouvelles d’Europe (歐洲時報), described as “the most influential Chinese news organisation in continental Europe” by the publication itself, was established in Paris in 1983, signed a news cooperation memorandum with China’s Science and Technology Daily (科技日報) in November 2023. The agreement, signed on November 24 by Nouvelles d’Europe President Zhong Cheng (鍾誠) and Science and Technology Daily President Zhang Biyong (張碧湧), establishes formal cooperation to “promote the dissemination of scientific and technological innovation achievements.” The partnership involves exchanging news resources in images, text, and video formats, providing coverage of important China-France and China-Europe science and technology news in English. Science and Technology Daily was founded in 1986 by China’s National Science and Technology Commission and other state organizations. Nouvelles d’Europe has expanded from a four-page irregular publication to a comprehensive media group with daily newspapers, websites, cultural centers, and branches across Europe and Beijing.

Chinese-Ukrainian Media Sign Cooperation Agreement

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On June 20, 2019, China’s Science and Technology Daily (科技日報) signed a cooperation agreement with Ukraine’s Uryadovy Kuryer (Government Courier) in Kyiv. Led by Editor-in-Chief Li Ping (李平), the Chinese delegation met with Ukrainian counterparts including Editor-in-Chief Sergii Braga to strengthen media collaboration and information exchange. The agreement facilitates regular content sharing and website cross-linking between these publications. Science and Technology Daily, described as a central major news media and the Party and state’s science and technology news and public opinion position, partnered with Uryadovy Kuryer, Ukraine’s official newspaper of the Cabinet of Ministers. Uryadovy Kuryer, which has been published since October 1990, is among Ukraine’s leading government publications. According to the Chinese source, the Ukrainian newspaper is considered “an important window” for understanding Ukrainian political dynamics and economic developments.

China Radio International and the Philippine Presidential Broadcasting Service Launch “Wow China” Broadcast

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Wow China, a collaborative radio program between the Philippine Broadcasting Service (PBS) under the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) and China Radio International (中國國際廣播電台), aired on government station Radyo Pilipinas from 2018 to at least May 2020. China Radio International operates under China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台), which was established in March 2018 through the integration of China Central Television, China National Radio, and China Radio International, and is under the leadership of the Central Propaganda Department, according to HK01‘s report on the official announcement. The program described itself as a “light cultural program” focusing on China-Philippines cultural exchange, but sparked significant backlash in May 2020 amid tensions over the South China Sea and the coronavirus pandemic, with critics calling it “pro-China propaganda” funded by Filipino taxpayers. The controversy intensified as it coincided with the government’s cease and desist order against ABS-CBN, the Philippines’ largest media network, leading lawmakers to question the use of taxpayer money for the program.

Media Liaison Office for Wenzhou Opens in Prato

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On February 12, 2025, Prato’s “Green Dragon Club” (青龍俱樂部), a local Chinese community center, received a pair of plaques designating it as both an “overseas communication base” and “liaison office” of the Wenzhou International Communication Center (溫州國際傳播中心). This ICC is one of over 70 centers established since 2018 in provinces and cities across China meant to harness local media groups — in coordination with local propaganda offices — to amplify the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to “tell China’s story well” and strengthen its “discourse power” globally. The ceremony was attended by Liu Shenyang (柳深揚), identified as editor-in-chief of the Wenzhou News Media Center (溫州市新聞傳媒中心), a local government-run media office established on June 28, 2023, and described as “a new milestone in the development of [the city’s] news and propaganda work.”

Xinhua Signs Agreement with ANSA to Launch “Xinhua Italian Service”

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Italian news agency ANSA (Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata) and China’s Xinhua News Agency (新華社) signed a collaboration agreement in Rome on March 22, 2019, during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Italy. The agreement established an Italian-language Xinhua news service that ANSA would distribute exclusively through its platforms. Xinhua President Cai Mingzhao (蔡名照), who had served in senior Chinese Communist Party media roles for over two decades, signed the accord with ANSA CEO Stefano De Alessandri. Officials said the service would be “clearly identified and separate from ANSA’s production.” De Alessandri claimed the deal would provide “a broad and systematic information panorama on China” and what he called a “window open on the Chinese system.” The agreement expanded on a 2017 deal between the agencies for news exchange and content collaboration. ANSA terminated the agreement in June 2022.