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Activity Type: Branch or Group Formation

Belarus-Gansu Media Platform Launch Builds on ICC Office Formation

On May 20-25, 2025, in Gansu Province (甘肅省), Andrei Krivosheyev, chairman of the Belarusian Union of Journalists (白俄羅斯記者聯盟) and chairman of the Board of Directors of Minsk News Agency (明斯克新聞社), led a Belarusian media delegation visiting to examine Gansu’s economic and social development and inspect projects in culture, new energy, environmental protection, international logistics, and water-saving agriculture. Building on cooperation established in 2023 when the province’s Gansu International Communication Center (甘肅省國際傳播中心), or GICC, opened an office in the Belarus Journalists Union, the delegation met with Gansu Daily (甘肅日報) newspaper representatives and launched a new media platform for “information exchange,” with attendees including China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (中華人民共和國外交部) representatives, local government officials, and All-China Journalists Association (中華全國新聞工作者協會) Vice President Li Xiaojun (李曉軍). The organizations claimed the visit would “comprehensively promote and report on new achievements of Chinese-style modernization practice in Gansu” and explore cooperation to jointly tell “Silk Road stories” and “China-Belarus friendship stories” (中白友好故事) within “all-weather and all-round Belarus-China strategic partnership” frameworks. 

Jinan Overseas International Communication Center Opens in Paris

The Jinan Overseas International Communication Center (濟南海外國際傳播中心) was inaugurated in Paris on November 26, 2024, alongside a cultural exhibition celebrating the city’s spring water heritage. Tang Ji (唐霽), Deputy Director of Xinhua News Agency Paris Branch (新華社巴黎分社副社長), and Sun Shihui (孫世會), Deputy Director of the Jinan Propaganda Office, presided over the ceremony with French officials. The center claimed it would “tell Jinan’s story to the world and showcase the unique charm of spring culture” (向世界講述濟南故事,展示泉水文化的獨特魅力), according to coverage by Jinan Daily News Group. Three French representatives were appointed as “Spring City Recommenders” including France-China Friendship Association vice-chair Liyakid Ben Ami, “My French Friends” association president Mai Sui, and Beatrice de Focko, former global communications director at BNP Paribas (法國巴黎銀行). Sophie Mette, a French National Assembly member representing Gironde, stated that the exhibition would deepen understanding of Jinan’s culture among French citizens. Officials said the center would serve as a platform for deepening cultural exchanges between China and France.

Media Liaison Office for Wenzhou Opens in Prato

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.”

Formation of Thai-Chinese Journalist Association

Thai and Chinese journalists established the Thai-Chinese Journalists Association in Bangkok on January 28, 2015, during the 40th anniversary year of Thailand-China diplomatic relations. The organization, comprising Thai journalists and Chinese reporters working in Thailand, stated its mission was “to promote news cooperation and media exchange between Thailand and China, and to enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples of both countries.” At the inauguration ceremony, China’s Ambassador to Thailand, Ning Fukui (寧賦魁), praised Thai media’s “fair” coverage of China’s development and called the association’s founding “timely” given the anniversary. The association’s board included representatives from major Chinese state media outlets operating in Thailand, including Xinhua News Agency, People’s Daily, China Radio International, and China Central Television, alongside Thai outlets including Thansettakij , Thai Rath, Channel 7, and Spring News television network.