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Activity Type: Media Partnership or Co-Production

Xinhua Signs News Exchange Agreement with Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation

On August 25, 2023, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency signed a news exchange and cooperation agreement with the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) in Lusaka, Zambia. Fu Hua (傅華), Xinhua’s president, met with Bright Nkaka, acting director-general of the ZNBC, at a dedicated signing ceremony. According to Xinhua, the agreement was intended to broaden the ZNBC’s communications channels and enrich its news content for Zambian audiences. Fu said Xinhua was prepared to share its experience of technology-driven media convergence — an overarching term for digital media transition — and to deepen cooperation through Xinhua-organized multilateral platforms, including the World Media Summit and the BRICS Media Forum, both of which serve as channels for Chinese state framing of global media norms and responsibilities. On the same day, Xinhua donated laptops and hard drives to several Zambian media organizations.

Xinhua News Agency Signs Agreement With Agência de Informação de Moçambique

On April 21, 2026, China’s state news agency, Xinhua, signed a news exchange and cooperation agreement with the Agência de Informação de Moçambique (莫桑比克通訊社), or AIM, Mozambique’s state news agency. The signing took place during Mozambican President Daniel Francisco Chapo’s state visit to Beijing and was listed on the official outcomes of the visit. According to Xinhua, the agreement covered what the agency described as “practical cooperation” in news content exchange and personnel visits between the two outlets.

Xinhua Signs News Service Agreement with Zambezi FM Radio

On August 25, 2023, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency signed a news service agreement with Zambezi FM Radio in Lusaka, Zambia, during a visit by Xinhua president Fu Hua (傅華). According to Xinhua, both sides described the agreement as intended to enhance mutual understanding between Chinese and Zambian people and promote friendly bilateral relations — framing consistent with Xinhua’s standard characterization of its international media partnerships as instruments of bilateral goodwill. Fu said that the cooperation would help media on both sides “better tell the stories of China-Zambia friendship.” The agreement was one of three cooperation deals Xinhua concluded with Zambian media organizations during the same trip, alongside separate agreements with the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) and the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC).

Xinhua Editor-in-Chief Meets Agencia EFE President in Madrid

On May 12, 2016, He Ping (何平), then editor-in-chief of China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency (新華通訊社), met with José Antonio Vera, then president of Spain’s Agencia EFE (埃菲通訊社), in Madrid. He Ping called for deeper cooperation and said Xinhua should serve as a “bridge” between the two countries’ populations — language characteristic of the CCP’s framing of state media as instruments of public diplomacy rather than news organizations. Vera, who had visited Xinhua the previous year, welcomed the meeting and described the agency’s development as having made a strong impression during that visit. He Ping was in Spain at Agencia EFE’s invitation and also met with representatives of the financial newspaper Mundo Financiero, the foreign affairs outlet El Diplomático, and the regional daily Diario del Norte de Castilla.

CCTV and RTVE Sign Cooperation Agreement

On January 30, 2009, Spain’s public broadcaster, Spanish Radio and Television Corporation (RTVE) and China Central Television (CCTV) signed a cooperation agreement during former Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s (溫家寶) official visit to Spain. Signed by then RTVE president Luis Fernández and the director of CCTV, the agreement covered the exchange of news programming, documentaries, and a range of cultural content, as well as co-productions and training exchanges for professionals from both stations. The broadcasters also committed to organizing themed broadcast weeks: “TVE China Week” and “Spanish Week at CCTV” — and planned musical collaborations between the RTVE Orchestra and Choir and Chinese artists.

Xinhua President Meets With Agencia EFE President

On September 5, 2024, Fu Hua (傅華), the president of China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency, met with Miguel Ángel Oliver, president of Spain’s state-owned agency Agencia EFE, in Beijing. As the two counterparts met, Fu stressed that the agencies have cooperated since the 1970s, though the earliest documented contact appears to date back to 2015. Fu expressed interest in expanded exchanges in news content, personnel, and new media. Oliver, appointed president of Agencia EFE in December 2023, said the agency “looks forward to deepening cooperation” with Xinhua. During the meeting, Fu also promoted the World Media Summit, a forum launched by Xinhua in 2009 that presents itself as a multilateral platform but was conceived, organized, and funded by Xinhua as a direct initiative of the CCP leadership. The summit convenes international media leaders to discuss industry cooperation, news exchange, and technology — and serves as a channel for the Chinese state’s framing of global media responsibilities and values. At the 2024 edition of the World Media Summit, held in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region, in October 2024, Chinese officials used the platform to dismiss Western reporting on Uyghur human rights abuses as “fabricated lies.” 

Hunan Broadcasting System Signs Memorandum with DMSZ

On February 26, 2025, Duna Médiaszolgáltató (DMSZ) and Hunan Satellite Television (湖南衛視) signed a memorandum of cooperation in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, covering a range of media co-productions and exchanges. According to a Hunan Broadcasting press release, the memorandum was signed by a DMSZ executive and Song Dian (宋點), director of Hunan Satellite Television, in the presence of the Hungarian Consul General in Chongqing and Hunan Broadcasting chairman Gong Zhengwen (龔政文). The agreement covers co-production of China-related documentaries and food programs, cultural exchanges, and talent training. The deal builds on a July 2023 cooperation pact signed in Budapest, through which Hunan Broadcasting cited its variety show Chinese Restaurant (中餐廳) — whose seventh season was filmed in Budapest that year — and claimed to have aired several original productions in Hungary. While DMSZ presents itself as Hungary’s public broadcaster, analysts describe it as a shell entity under effective government control, whose CEO holds no functional autonomy. In recent years it has been strongly criticized within the EU as a pro-government outlet.

Xinhua Hosts Reuters, AP, and AFP in Beijing

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.

RTHK Signs MoU with Malaysia

On March 5, 2026, Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) signed a memorandum of understanding with Malaysia’s Ministry of Communications in Kuala Lumpur, aimed at strengthening media cooperation and promoting cultural exchange. The ceremony was held at the headquarters of Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) and was jointly signed by RTHK Director of Broadcasting Angelina Kwan Yuen-yee (關婉儀) and newly appointed RTM Director-General Ashwad Ismail. According to Hong Kong media, the memorandum includes plans for joint productions showcasing cultural tourism in both Hong Kong and Malaysia. Kwan and Ashwad also discussed future collaboration under what RTHK described as the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, with Kwan saying that these agreements would help strengthen RTHK’s “international communication capabilities” (國際傳播能力) – a term closely associated with Beijing’s external propaganda strategy under Xi Jinping.