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Activity Type: Media Partnership or Co-Production

RTP and Zhejiang ICC Sign Agreement

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On October 11, 2024, representatives from the Zhejiang International Communication Center (ZICC) and Portugal’s public broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) signed a memorandum of understanding to broadcast the Chinese television drama “Just in Time” (時光正好), which follows three women navigating challenges in their personal and professional lives. Established in May 2024 under the guidance of the Zhejiang Provincial Propaganda Office, ZICC has described itself as a “provincial-level ‘central kitchen’ for international communication,” meaning it produces multimedia content intended to serve Xi Jinping’s external propaganda policy of “telling China’s story well.” The ICC is part of a nationwide strategy pushed by the central leadership since 2019, and accelerating since 2022, to enhance the country’s external propaganda and “discourse power” by leveraging the resources of provincial, city and even county-level media and propaganda offices. 

CGTN Airs “China’s Agenda” Programme Across Europe

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In March 2024, the state-run Chinese international broadcaster CGTN organized a series of dialogues across Europe during China’s annual “Two Sessions” (兩會) parliamentary meetings, branded in English as “China’s Agenda” and in Chinese as “Spring in China” (春天裏的中國). The program focused on “Chinese-style modernization” and “New Quality Productive Forces” (新質生產力) — both political terminologies promoted by the Chinese leadership that emphasize innovation-driven economic growth. Hosted by CGTN Europe journalist Juliet Mann, the program aired on March 9, featuring political and business figures from the United States, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Albania, Chile, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka. Participants included Bert Hofman, former China country director of the World Bank; Marsela Musabelliu, executive director of the Albanian Institute for Globalization Studies; and Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius, who discussed China as a key market for the automaker. CGTN claimed the content reached 150 million people across 176 Western media platforms. Juliet Mann is represented as an anchor-for-hire by Knight Ayton Management. 

Dataxet Signs Cooperation Deal with Xinhua

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Dataxet (ดาต้าเซ็ต), a Thai media intelligence company, has signed a cooperation agreement with Xinhua News Agency and its affiliate China Economic Information Service (中国经济信息社), or CEIS. Under the agreement, Dataxet will market the Xinhua Silk Road Information Service (新華絲路網) — an information product focused on China’s economy and Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and Road Initiative — to businesses in Thailand. The Xinhua Silk Road Information Service has identified itself in Chinese during public exchanges, including last year’s China-Cyprus-Europe Media Forum, as a “Country-specific External Propaganda Center” (國別外宣中心), clearly indicating its role within China’s official external communication network (archived).

Chinese Ambassador Interviewed by Nouvelles d’Europe

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On September 3, 2025, Nouvelles d’Europe (歐洲時報), a Chinese-language newspaper founded in Paris in 1983 and now operated under the official China News Service and the United Front Work Department of the CCP, published a written interview with the Chinese ambassador to France to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. In the interview with the newspaper, whose majority shares are held by by the Hong Kong registered Asia Culture Enterprise Limited, or “Ya Zhou Wen Hua Enterprises,” an entity founded in 1997 by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office (OCAO), the ambassador promoted China’s version of WWII history and portrayed the PRC as a defender of multilateralism. He claimed China was “the main battlefield in the East” and emphasized Taiwan’s return to China as part of the post-war order, while portraying the PRC as the first to sign the UN Charter. However, it was the Republic of China (ROC) under Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government that signed the 1942 UN Declaration and 1945 UN Charter as the leading force fighting Japan. The PRC was established in 1949, four years after the end of WWII. 

China Media Group and BFM Business Co-produce Anniversary Program

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Marking the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France on January 27, 2024, China Media Group (CMG) announced the launch of a special program co-produced with France’s BFM Business called “Brilliant Sixty Years: High-Level Dialogue on the 60th Anniversary of China-France Diplomatic Relations” (璀璨甲子 中法建交60周年高端對話). The program featured an interview with former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, with video remarks from Shen Haixiong (慎海雄), vice minister of the Central Propaganda Department and CMG president, and Lu Shaye (盧沙野), then-Chinese Ambassador to France. The pro-Beijing Hong Kong outlet Wen Wei Po described the collaboration as showcasing “the broad future of the China-France comprehensive strategic partnership.” The program was broadcast on BFM Business and CGTN French, serving China’s diplomatic messaging around the anniversary, and was also promoted on the nightly official news broadcast on CCTV. 

Xi Jinping Publishes Article in Le Figaro Ahead of State Visit

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On May 5, 2024, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) published a signed article titled “Carrying forward the spirit of Sino-French diplomatic relations, jointly promoting world peace and development”  (傳承中法建交精神 共促世界和平發展), in the French newspaper Le Figaro ahead of his state visit to France. The article highlighted the 60th anniversary of China-France diplomatic relations and promoted expanded bilateral cooperation. Addressing Europe’s political situation and referencing the war in Ukraine, Xi claimed China has “never initiated a war” and is “the only country among nuclear powers to commit to no first use of nuclear weapons” — claims disputed by historians who cite conflicts including the 1962 Sino-Indian War and 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War. On the issue of Ukraine directly, Xi wrote that China “has been playing a constructive role” while expressing understanding for European concerns. The article encouraged French investment in China, particularly in green industries, and called for deeper cooperation on global governance.

China Daily Runs Content in Le Figaro

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On May 29, 2015, French newspaper Le Figaro (費加羅報) published the inaugural French edition of China Watch (中國國家形象專刊), a monthly advertising supplement produced by China’s state-run China Daily (中國日報) and distributed within the pages of Le Figaro. The first issue featured articles on China’s “Made in China 2025” industrial strategy and Beijing’s Winter Olympics bid. The president of China Daily called the French edition “the first step” in expanding beyond English-language markets, and the Chinese Ambassador to France  described the partnership as helping French readers “better understand China.” The collaboration reportedly ended around 2020. 

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.

House of Chinese-Bulgarian Journalists Opens in Bulgaria

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On June 29, 2023, the Union of Bulgarian Journalists and the All-China Journalists Association (中華全國新聞工作者協會), China’s state-led professional body for working journalists, signed a memorandum establishing the “House of Chinese-Bulgarian Journalists” in Sofia. The agreement was signed by the executive secretary of the ACJA and the president of the Union of Bulgarian Journalists. The Chinese ambassador to Bulgaria, who was also identified as the Special Representative for China-CEEC Cooperation, attended the signing ceremony. Representatives from Xinhua News Agency (新華社), People’s Daily (人民日報), and China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台) participated in the event. The platform, described as enabling “seminars, training programs and mutual visits,” builds on the Union of Bulgarian Journalists’ existing practice of organizing annual trips and study visits to China for its members.