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Activity Category: Media Engagement Activity

NAN and Xinhua Sign Information Partnership Agreement

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

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

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

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

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.

Hong Kong Students Complete CCP-Sponsored Jiangxi Media Tour

On July 29, 2025, the state-run Hong Kong Ta Kung Pao Wen Wei Po Media Group (香港大公文汇传媒集团) and its associated Ta Kung Pao Wen Wei International Communication Center (大公文汇国际传播中心), held a media-related tour in Jiangxi province in cooperation with the Propaganda Office of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee of the CCP (中共江西省委宣传部). Themed around the life and work of Fan Changjiang (范长江), the famous Chinese war correspondent for the Ta Kung Pao who in 1949 established the All-China Journalists Association (ACJA) with the Marxist political figure and propagandist Hu Qiaomu (胡乔木), the Jiangxi tour introduced Hong Kong journalism students to the political history of Anyuan County — where Mao Zedong and others mobilized a labor movement among mine workers in 1922. Officials claimed the eight-day program covering four cities, called the “2025 Fan Changjiang Action Hong Kong Media Students Jiangxi Trip” (2025范长江行动香港传媒学子江西行), would help students become “bridges” for Jiangxi-Hong Kong cooperation and “spokespersons” for China stories. Cao Yinghua (曹英华) of Jiangxi’s propaganda office said students should use their “professional, objective, youthful” writing to “show the world a true, three-dimensional, and comprehensive China” — standard PRC political language suggesting ideological training rather than professional journalism education.

Xinhua Signs MoU with Bakhtar News Agency

On December 29, 2018, Afghanistan’s Bakhtar News Agency (巴赫塔通訊社) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China’s Xinhua News Agency (新華社) for news and photo sharing. The ceremony in Kabul was attended by Deputy Minister of Information and Culture Fazel Sancharaki, a Chinese representative from Xinhua’s Asia and Oceania division, and BNA director Khalil Minawi. Established in 1939, Bakhtar News Agency is Afghanistan’s official state news agency and provides content to all domestic media outlets. Xinhua News Agency, founded in 1931, is China’s official state news agency and operates in more than 150 countries worldwide. The agreement allows both agencies to exchange news content within their respective coverage areas, reflecting broader China-Afghanistan media cooperation during this period.

Cuba Launches Academic Journal On Shared Future Concept

On August 4, 2025, in Havana, Cuba’s International Political Research Center (古巴国际政治研究中心) launched a special academic issue of Nuestra América quarterly focusing on “Community of Shared Future for Mankind” (人类命运共同体), featuring over 20 articles by Chinese and Cuban scholars and diplomats. Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Josefina Vidal claimed the issue holds “great significance” as the countries approach their 65th diplomatic anniversary, saying it will “promote building” the Cuba-China community of shared future and “strengthen academic exchange.” Chinese Ambassador Hua Xin described the initiative as demonstrating how the theoretical concept is “taking root” through practical cooperation, positioning Cuba as the first Western Hemisphere nation to jointly build a bilateral community of shared future — standard PRC diplomatic terminology suggesting soft power objectives rather than independent academic research.

Baoshan Launches China-Myanmar Youth Media Partnership

On August 5, 2025, in Baoshan, Yunnan Province, local officials launched the “Youth Media Bridge Building, People-to-People Connectivity” (青媒筑桥·民心相通) China-Myanmar Youth New Media Co-creation Plan alongside the city’s “external communication and dialogue platform” (对外传播交流平台) — likely to the equivalent of its international communication center. Young representatives from both countries participated in coffee-making exchanges and cultural activities, with officials claiming the initiative will create bilingual content promoting local coffee, hot springs, and shadow puppetry in Myanmar. According to plans outlined in the related release from the Baoshan city propaganda office, youth representatives will “tell Baoshan’s story well” (讲好保山故事) internationally while fostering “people-to-people connectivity” (民心相通) — standard PRC diplomatic terminology suggesting efforts at state narrative projection within the frame of cultural exchange.