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Activity Type: Media Cooperation Agreement

CMG Signs Deal With Greek Media at Bilateral Dialogue

On October 30, 2023, China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台) hosted a “China-Greece Belt and Road Dialogue” (中國希臘”一帶一路”對話會) in Athens. The event was attended by former Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, who served as president from 2015 to 2020, China Media Group President Shen Haixiong (慎海雄), who has headed the umbrella state media organization since 2018, Greek Tourism Minister Vasilis Kikilias, who served in that role from August 2021 to March 2023, and Chinese Ambassador to Greece Xiao Junzheng (肖軍正). During the event, CMG signed a cooperation memorandum with Greece’s largest financial media outlet, Shipping and Business News (航運與商業報), covering international news reporting and financial content collaboration. CMG also exchanged an agreement with the Greek satellite platform NOVA to broadcast CGTN English and Documentary channels in Greece. Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni (麗娜·門佐尼) announced plans for a comprehensive cooperation memorandum with CMG covering multiple joint cultural projects.

Tourism Australia and China Media Group Sign Deal

Tourism Australia, the Australian government’s international tourism promotion agency, and China Media Group (中国中央广播电视总台, CMG) signed a two-year Memorandum of Understanding in July 2025 at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, witnessed by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The agreement, formalized by Tourism Australia’s Robin Mack and CMG President Shen Haixiong (慎海雄), established a framework for co-creating tourism content across CMG’s television, radio, digital, and social media platforms. The partnership aimed to enhance Australia’s brand recognition in China through culturally attuned storytelling, featuring Australia’s landscapes, multicultural communities, and lifestyle. The collaboration supported Tourism Australia’s “Come and Say G’day” campaign launch in China that August, during a period when Chinese visitor numbers reached 860,000 annually, generating $9.2 billion in tourism expenditure with 26 percent year-on-year growth.

CMG Signs MOU with Brazilian Culture Ministry

On November 18, 2024, China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Brazil’s Ministry of Culture in Rio de Janeiro. The agreement was signed by CMG President Shen Haixiong (慎海雄) and Brazilian Culture Minister Margareth Menezes, establishing cooperation in audiovisual production, cultural heritage promotion, and technical exchanges. The signing took place amid what Shen described as a “new golden 50 years” of China-Brazil diplomatic relations under the leadership of Presidents Xi Jinping and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The collaboration will focus on film market development, media co-production, cultural heritage preservation, and tourism promotion to strengthen people-to-people connections between the nations. Menezes, who became Brazil’s first Black woman Culture Minister in 2023, emphasized the partnership’s importance for “Global South” nations pursuing mutual understanding and development.

Italy and China Renew Film Co-Production Agreement

On February 2, 2026, Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli signed a film co-production agreement in Beijing with Shen Haixiong (慎海雄), president of China Media Group and a deputy director of the Central Propaganda Department. The agreement aims to facilitate joint film productions between Italian and Chinese companies, allowing co-produced works to qualify as domestic content in both countries, which might allow Italian co-productions to bypass China’s foreign film quota system. The agreement followed the June 2025 broadcast of the CMG-produced series “Il Guardiano del Patrimonio” across more than 30 Italian media outlets, a production promoting Xi Jinping’s cultural philosophy that was launched at a ceremony in Rome attended by Shen and Italian Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara.

Xinhua and Diario El Salvador Launch Joint Media Compendium

On September 27, 2024, the state-funded Diario El Salvador and China’s Xinhua News Agency formally presented a joint publication titled “Reportajes de encuentros: la relación China-El Salvador” (Encounter Reports: The China-El Salvador Relationship). A related promotion appeared on Diario El Salvador‘s Instagram account. The presentation took place at the editorial offices of Diario El Salvador and was attended by its editorial director, Luis Laínez. The compendium features reports from Salvadoran journalists who traveled to China, alongside Xinhua content translated for a local audience covering sectors like technology, electromobility, and infrastructure. The event coincided with the 75th anniversary of the PRC and the 6th anniversary of bilateral ties, serving as a formalization of content-sharing between the two state-aligned entities.

CMG Signs Tourism Cooperation Deal with Canada

China Media Group (中央广播电视总台), the state-run media conglomerate directly under the Central Propaganda Department, signed a cooperation agreement with Destination Canada on January 15 during Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s official visit to China. CMG Director Shen Haixiong (慎海雄), who also serves as deputy head of the Central Propaganda Department, and Canadian Ambassador to China Jennifer May signed the memorandum of understanding in Beijing, with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Prime Minister Carney witnessing the ceremony. The agreement establishes institutional ties for collaboration on program production, project planning, and joint activities to promote what China refers to as “people-to-people diplomacy” (民间外交). Destination Canada is a wholly government-owned agency that markets Canada as a tourism destination. The signing occurred as part of a broader diplomatic reset covering economic, energy, security, and cultural cooperation.

CMG Signs Cooperation MOU with Thailand TV5

On October 18, 2023, China Media Group (CMG) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Thailand’s Public Relations Department (民众联络厅) during Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s attendance at the third Belt and Road International Cooperation Summit Forum in Beijing. CMG President Shen Haixiong (慎海雄), who serves as vice minister of the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party, and Thai Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office Pongphet Chunlayadej (庞珮·春拉晔) formalized the partnership to enhance media collaboration between the two organizations. Thailand’s Public Relations Department, which operates under the supervision of the Prime Minister’s Office and oversees multiple official media outlets, including the National Broadcasting Services of Thailand, represents a key governmental communications authority. The agreement establishes mechanisms for regular cooperation, news reporting collaboration, personnel exchanges and training, and media technology sharing to “endow ‘Thailand-China Family’ with new era significance,” according to the announcement, marking an expansion of China’s media cooperation with ASEAN partners under the Belt and Road Initiative (一带一路).

CMG Opens Bureau in Nauru

On January 24, 2024, China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台) inaugurated its 192nd overseas bureau in Nauru, coinciding with the restoration of diplomatic ties between the two countries. The ceremony at the Nauru Presidential Office was attended by Nauru’s Media Minister Shadlog Bernicke (沙德羅德·貝尼克), who reportedly “welcomed” the Chinese media presence. CMG and Nauru’s Media Department (瑙魯媒體部) signed a “cooperation memorandum” that Chinese officials claimed would “promote mutual trust” and “create a new situation for media cooperation.” According to Chinese state media, this marks the “first media cooperation agreement” since China and Nauru resumed diplomatic relations on January 24, following Nauru’s decision to cut ties with Taiwan just days after Taiwan’s presidential election.

CNS Signs Cooperation Deal in Bangladesh

On December 9, 2015, China News Service (中國新聞社) Deputy Director and Deputy Editor-in-Chief Xia Chunping (夏春平) signed a cooperation memorandum with Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (孟加拉國國家通訊社) Editor-in-Chief Abul Kalam Azad in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital. The agreement outlined collaboration in news exchange, joint interviews, training programs, and joint promotion of Bridge Era: China Newsweek South Asia Edition (橋時代——中國新聞周刊南亞版) in Bangladesh. Xia stated the partnership would “strengthen interconnection” between Chinese and Bangladeshi media under the Belt and Road Initiative framework. Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha officials expressed hope the cooperation would “deepen mutual understanding” between the two countries’ peoples. During the visit, Xia’s delegation also met with Bangladesh Press Association Secretary General Quamrul Islam Chowdhury, reaching a consensus on enhanced media cooperation.