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Activity Type: Media Partnership or Co-Production

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. 

Xi Publishes Article in Portuguese Newspaper Ahead of 2018 State Visit

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On December 3, 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping published a signed article in Portugal’s weekly newspaper Diário de Notícias titled “Friendship that Transcends Time and Space, Partners for the Future” (跨越時空的友誼 面向未來的夥伴) ahead of his state visit. The article quoted the 16th century Portuguese poet Luís de Camões on Portugal’s geographic position and referenced historical cultural exchanges, including the Portuguese adoption of Chinese silk-making techniques. through Belt and Road initiatives, positioning Portugal as a “key hub” that connects the land and maritime Silk Roads. The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road is a key component of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a major development plan that aims to connect China with the rest of the world. During the visit, Xi and the then-President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa signed a Belt and Road Memorandum of Understanding, making Portugal the first Western European nation to formally join the initiative.

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).

Xinhua Hosts Reuters, AP, and AFP in Beijing

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On December 1, 2023, Xinhua News Agency hosted leaders from the global newswires Reuters, AFP, and the Associated Press in Beijing, with Xinhua President Fu Hua (傅華) proposing a “high-level dialogue and cooperation mechanism” among the agencies. The meeting preceded the fifth World Media Summit in Guangzhou and Kunming. The World Media Summit (WMS), is a forum conceived by China in the midst of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and first held in October 2009, with the explicit idea on China’s part to expand its global influence and “discourse power” (話語權) through a semi-formal international mechanism under its leadership. Eight months ahead of the first meeting, Xinhua News Agency chief Li Congjun (李从军) wrote in the official periodical China Journalist that the event of conceived “[according] to the Central Committee’s strategic demand for ‘strengthening external propaganda’” (大外宣). At the 2023 event, participants discussed artificial intelligence, misinformation, and journalists’ safety. Fu Hua proposed expanded partnerships for video distribution and mutual humanitarian assistance in conflict zones. The gathering represented Xinhua’s effort to position itself alongside Western wire services, though the meeting’s outcomes and substantive commitments from participating agencies remained unclear from available reporting.

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. 

CMG Signs MoU for Paris 2024 Olympics Cooperation

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On October 23, 2023, China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台), or CMG, and the Paris 2024 Olympic Organizing Committee signed a cooperation memorandum in Paris regarding broadcasting the Olympics and related media promotion programs. The agreement outlined CMG’s role as a host broadcaster, deploying over 2,000 personnel to produce international broadcast signals for gymnastics, table tennis, badminton, and sport climbing using “5G+4K/8K+AI” technology. CMG President Shen Haixiong (慎海雄), and Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet signed the memorandum. The agreement also covered promotional programming and “telling the Olympic stories” of Beijing and Paris. Estanguet praised Beijing’s hosting of the 2022 Winter Olympics, without mentioning that the event faced diplomatic boycotts over human rights concerns in Xinjiang. Estanguet said France had much to learn from Beijing and that the cooperation would bring the countries closer “in the spirit of the Olympics.”

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.