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Activity Type: Media Cooperation Agreement

Deutsche Welle-CCTV Cooperation Agreement

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In August and September 2014, Deutsche Welle (德國之聲) Director General Peter Limbourg announced cooperation agreements with China Central Television (中央電視台), including co-productions in music and business programming. Just months later, in early 2015, Deutsche Welle announced it would temporarily suspend the partnership after it came under scrutiny from the German Bundestag, according to testimony given by journalist Su Yutong before a hearing of the US Congressional-Executive Commission in 2016. Su’s CECC testimony alleged that Deutsche Welle had softened the stance of the network’s Chinese-language coverage on China after a meeting between Chinese Ambassador to Germany Shi Mingde and Peter Limbourg. The announced 2014 cooperation between Deutsche Welle and CCTV also drew strong criticism at the time from Reporters Without Borders Germany, which called it “incompatible” with DW’s mission, noting CCTV’s role in China’s “repressive apparatus” against journalists.

UNICEF Partners with Shanghai State Media Outlet

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On December 4, The Paper (澎湃新闻), a CCP-run media outlet in the municipality of Shanghai, signed an MoU with UNICEF China, pledging to jointly promote children’s issues, including climate change, mental health, and early childhood development. The partnership grants the Party-controlled outlet — which describes itself as a “responsible internet-based mainstream media platform” — a formal relationship with the UN agency to advance coverage of children’s rights. The MOU was signed by The Paper’s editor-in-chief Liu Yonggang (刘永钢) and UNICEF representative Cynthia McCaffrey (桑爱玲), establishing what both sides characterized as a “strategic partnership.” According to the UNICEF website, McCaffrey was the China representative for the office through October 2022, when she was promoted as head of the India office.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

AGI and Xinhua Sign News Sharing Agreement

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On April 8, 2014, Agenzia Giornalistica Italia (AGI) and Xinhua News Agency (新華社) signed a memorandum of understanding for collaboration on economic news sharing and content exchange between Italy and China. The agreement was signed by both agencies’s CEO’s. According to AGI’s announcement, the partnership would cover “sharing of news, expertise and experiences on commercial and cultural processes between Italy and China,” as well as the joint organization of training activities.

AdnKronos and Xinhua Sign MoU on News Cooperation

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In December 2017, Italian news agency AdnKronos and Xinhua News Agency (新華社) signed a cooperation agreement during the fourth World Internet Conference (世界互聯網大會) in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province. According to a report by PrimaOnline, the agreement covered news exchange, video production, and digital interconnection between the agencies.

Italia News Online Partners with China Media Group

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In May 2021, Italia News Online, a magazine owned by Atlanis srl, announced a content distribution agreement with China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台), China’s state broadcaster under direct control of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Propaganda Department. The deal allows Italia News Online to distribute Italian-language productions from CGTN (中國環球電視網), CMG’s international English-language news channel, through its website and social media channels. According to the announcement, the content focuses on promoting cultural and socio-economic exchanges between Italy and China. 

Il Sole 24 Ore and Economic Daily Signed a Cooperation Agreement

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On March 20, 2019, the state-run Economic Daily (經濟日報) and Italian business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore signed a cooperation agreement in Rome to collaborate on a segment called”Focus on China: China Economic Special” (聚焦中國·中國經濟特刊) to be published in Il Sole 24 Ore. The collaboration subsequently drew sharp criticism when Il Sole 24 Ore journalists denounced the publication of four-page advertorials as “pure propaganda” that promoted Chinese investment opportunities without transparent disclosure. Staff characterized the content as placing their newspaper “at the disposal of an economic system and a State” lacking democratic freedoms, calling the styling “highly ambiguous” and the recurrence “aggravating recidivism.” The Economic Daily is a central-level CCP newspaper directly under the Central Propaganda Department.

China-Indonesia Media Forum

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On September 1, 2024, media representatives from Indonesia gathered with their Chinese counterparts at the second annual China-Indonesia Media Forum (中國-印度尼西亞媒體論壇) in Beijing to discuss further cooperation. The event was part of China’s deepening media diplomacy push across Southeast Asia in the hope of shaping perceptions in this strategically key region. The event, organized by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasized “the media’s positive role in building a community with a shared future,” referencing a central foreign policy concept closely associated with CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping (習近平). Indonesian participants included Antara National News Agency, the news site Kumparan, the national daily Republika, the English-language Jakarta Post, the Indonesian free-to-air television network RCTI, and the media portal Merdeka. Mirroring China’s diplomatic positioning of media cooperation, Indonesia’s ambassador to China called on both sides to “step up cooperation in news production” and invited journalists to “report on positive aspects of each respective country.”

China Daily Runs Inserts In Jakarta Post

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The Jakarta Post, an English language newspaper published by Indonesia’s PT Bina Media Tenggara, a media and consulting firm, reportedly signed a content-sharing arrangement with the Chinese government-run China Daily (中國日報) in 2016 to regularly publish a “China Watch” (看中國) insert. The specific date of the agreement, however, remains undocumented in public sources. China’s Mission to ASEAN stated in October 2016 that the cooperation “opens a new window for the Indonesian people to understand China.” The Indonesian newspaper’s editor-in-chief characterized the collaboration as “purely commercial,” telling Voice of America that China Daily “buys space for ads for its content” with disclaimers, and that there is “no editorial collaboration.” Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, director of China-Indonesia Studies at the Center of Economic and Law Studies, noted in an interview with Taiwan’s Central News Agency in 2023 that the paper republishes content from China Daily and Xinhua (新華社), as well as articles by Chinese ambassadors. According to CNA, The Jakarta Post has published a full-page insert from the People’s Daily (人民日報), the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper, every Friday since late 2023.

CMG Hosts 2020 European Media Cooperation Forum

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On December 10, 2020, China Media Group (中國媒體集團) hosted the 2020 European Media Partners Cooperation Online Forum, which the state-run China Global Television Network (CGTN) called a “Mutual Trust Dialogue for Win-Win Cooperation.” Representatives from several European countries were reportedly in attendance. The CMG president Shen Haixiong (慎海雄), also a deputy head of the Central Propaganda Department, used the forum to advocate for deeper media cooperation on pandemic coverage. The event featured the launch of China Business Video, a collaboration between the state-run CCTV+ and Reuters (archived) that “provides Reuters’ customers with financial news content from China,” according to a CCTV+ readout. CCTV+ also reportedly signed a memorandum with the European News Exchange (ENEX) to establish the European Media Partners initiative and launch BizToday, a program on the CCTV+ platform described in state media coverage as a joint Chinese-European news program. The forum exemplifies CMG’s strategy of cultivating media partnerships to expand its international influence.