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Activity Type: Media Summit

2024 Global South Media Forum Opens in South Africa

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The “Global South Media and Think Tank High-End Forum China-Africa Partners Conference”(全球南方”媒體智庫高端論壇中非夥伴大會)  was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from November 13-14, 2024, co-hosted by Xinhua News Agency (新華社), the African Union, and Independent Media. More than 200 representatives from more than 160 media outlets, think tanks, and government departments from China and 41 African countries attended, Xinhua reported. Participants discussed building media partnerships to shape international narratives and challenge what the forum characterized as Western dominance over global governance and narrative systems. Independent Media Group Chairman Iqbal Survé (伊克巴爾·瑟弗) — whose companies have come under investigation in recent years for potential state capture and corruption — said the Global South’s call for its “rightful place” (應有之位) in international narratives should not be ignored. In a bylined column in Zambia’s The Star earlier in November 2025, Survé directly appropriated Xi Jinping’s “shared future” discourse to promote greater BRICS cooperation. The Johannesburg forum launched an action plan for coordinating China-Africa media cooperation through joint news coverage, content sharing, journalist training, and collaborative digital platforms.

Fourth China-Germany Media Dialogue Held in Beijing

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On December 16, 2014, China and Germany held the Fourth China-Germany Media Dialogue in Beijing, bringing together nearly 40 representatives including officials, diplomats, and media professionals. Cai Mingzhao (蔡名照), director of China’s State Council Information Office (SCIO), which is the same office as the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Propaganda Department, highlighted positive results from media cooperation including regular dialogue, joint interviews, and joint program production. He called for enhanced communication in journalism, technology, and management, particularly exploring convergence between traditional and emerging media. German Foreign Ministry State Secretary Stephan Steinlein emphasized China’s increasingly important global role and stated that globalization requires deepened mutual understanding, especially in media. Participants discussed pragmatic cooperation, social media development, and media education.

2025 China-South Korea Media Cooperation Forum

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The 2025 China-South Korea Media Cooperation Forum was held in Seoul on October 13, 2025, under the theme “China-South Korea Cooperation for an Intelligent Future.” It brought together representatives from Chinese and South Korean media outlets, academic institutions, and tech companies. Co-hosted by the People’s Daily (人民日報), the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, and South Korea’s Maekyung Media Group, the event featured speeches by the president of the People’s Daily, the chairman of Maekyung Media Group, and China’s ambassador to South Korea. According to a readout from the People’s Daily, the forum released the results of a public opinion survey in the Asia-Pacific region claiming that populations generally view the region as “an interdependent community with common interests and a shared future” — language directly echoing Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy concept of a “community of common destiny for mankind” (人類命運共同體). Xi’s policy phrase, which now underpins what the CCP characterizes as the “Four Great Global Initiatives” (四大全球倡议) — the Global Development Initiative (GDI), Global Security Initiative (GSI), Global Civilization Initiative (GCI), and the Global Governance Initiative (GGI) — prioritizes state-centered approaches to international relations while subordinating individual rights to national interests. The president of the People’s Daily called on media organizations to promote “Asian values of peace, cooperation, openness, and inclusiveness” and to “consolidate common regional values,” framing media cooperation as a vehicle for advancing China’s narratives in the region.

China-Cyprus-Europe Media Forum

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The China-Cyprus-Europe Media Forum was held from October 21-23, 2025, in Nicosia, Cyprus. According to a report from the official China News Service, the forum was organized by the China Media Group (中央广播电视总) and the Chinese Embassy in Cyprus, along with the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (塞浦路斯广播电视公司), the Cyprus Mail (塞浦路斯邮报), and the government-run Xinhua News Agency (新华社). More than 100 representatives from the media, government, diplomatic missions, universities, think tanks, and enterprises attended. The Chinese Ambassador said that he hoped participants would “deepen exchanges” and “tell stories of China-Cyprus friendship well” — language reflecting the Chinese Communist Party’s emphasis on “telling China’s story well” (講好中國故事), a core propaganda directive under Xi Jinping aimed at shaping international narratives about China. Cooperation between China and Cyprus, China-EU relations, media responsibilities, and the role of AI in media development were the main topics of the forum. The event released a declaration calling for the media to build “a community with a shared future for humanity” — this being a signature foreign policy concept introduced by Xi Jinping, and suggesting that the document was drafted by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The forum was timed ahead of the 55th anniversary of China-Cyprus diplomatic relations and Cyprus’s EU Council presidency in 2026.

China-Africa Internet Development and Cooperation Forum 2025

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China hosted the 2025 China-Africa Internet Development and Cooperation Forum on September 28, 2025, in Xiamen, bringing together approximately 400 representatives from government agencies, universities, think tanks and news media from China and 32 African countries. The forum, themed “Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace and Writing a New Chapter in China-Africa Digital Cooperation” — drawing on Xi Jinping’s foreign policy notion of “shared destiny” as applied to the internet — was organized by the Cyberspace Administration of China (國家互聯網信息辦公室) and the Fujian Provincial People’s Government (福建省人民政府). Chinese officials unveiled the 2025-2026 Action Plan for Building a China-Africa Cyberspace Community with a Shared Future (携手构建中非网络空间命运共同体行动计划) and established the “China-Africa Internet Enterprise Cooperation Network” (中国在非洲互联网企业合作网络), while announcing continued training programs on cybersecurity and digital economy. The forum featured four sub-forums addressing digital divide reduction and digital transformation, artificial intelligence development and governance, cybersecurity and data governance, and online media cooperation. State media coverage reported that African representatives “endorsed” China’s proposed cooperation initiatives, and said that the forum aligned with African countries’ digital transformation needs and expressing willingness to deepen collaboration with China in digital economy, cybersecurity, data protection, artificial intelligence governance and online media sectors. Such initiatives are generally organized, announced and hosted in a unilateral manner by Chinese government entities, even as the discourse stresses them as bilateral or multilateral in nature. The Xiamen meeting also presented 7 participants from African countries (called “friends”) with certificates under “China Storytelling Partnerships” ( 中国故事共创会), which media said recognized those who work “to tell China’s stories, spread Chinese culture, and show the world a real, three-dimensional, and comprehensive China.” The language echoes China’s official policy on external propaganda.

Shenyang Hosts Cross-Strait Media Youth Symposium

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On September 10, 2025, the Liaoning Provincial Taiwan Affairs Office (遼寧省委台辦) and Liaoning Communication University (遼寧傳媒學院) hosted a cross-strait media symposium titled “Liaoning-Taiwan Perspectives: A Mirror for the Future” (遼台視界 鏡啟未來) in Shenyang. Nearly 40 participants attended, including journalists from Taiwan, social media personalities, reporters from Hong Kong, and professors from Liaoning Communication University. Participants included Yuan Tianming (袁天明), chairman of the little-known Chinese Journalists Association (中華新聞記者協會), or CJA TW, who was misidentified as chairman of the Association of Taiwan Journalists (台灣新聞記者協會), a professional non-governmental organization composed of Taiwanese journalists. Yuan characterized the event as “meaningful for deepening cross-strait exchange” and complimented China’s grand official commemoration on September 3 of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. During the symposium, three Taiwanese nationals identified as social media personalities (自媒體人)— Sun Ziyun (孫子芸), James (邱慶齡), and Wu Zhichun (吳志淳) — shared their personal experiences working in China. Sun Ziyun described Liaoning as her “second hometown,” while Wu Zhichun promoted the province’s policies for Taiwanese entrepreneurs, including office space, tax benefits, and housing subsidies. James, visiting Liaoning for the first time, shared his experience of having participated in the September 3 military parade. While identified as social media personalities, the three Taiwanese participants have chiefly been promoters of China and its message of cross-strait integration, and seem to have little appreciable impact inside Taiwan.

Xiamen University Hosts China-ASEAN Journalism Education Conference

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The “China-ASEAN Journalism Education Conference” (中國—東盟未來新聞傳播教育會議), bringing together approximately 30 academic representatives from nine ASEAN countries alongside Chinese academics, was held from September 13-14, 2025, in the port city of Xiamen. Co-organized by the School of Journalism and Communication of Xiamen University (廈門大學新聞傳播學院) and the university’s Center for International Communication Research (廈門大學國際傳播研究中心), the conference revolved around the theme of journalism and the role of artificial intelligence. Indian national Daya K. Thussu (達雅·屠蘇), president of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), participated in sessions focused on artificial intelligence’s impact on journalism. He said that journalism education “needs to summarize the past to face the future” and stressed the importance of cooperation among ASEAN journalism education institutions to address future challenges posed by technological developments and changing media landscapes. The conference, which emphasized “building a China-ASEAN journalism education community” (构建中国—东盟新闻传播教育共同体), reflected Beijing’s broader regional foreign policy strategy, using partnerships in media, education, and culture to further its geopolitical goals. Chinese media reports indicated participation by representatives from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

2025 ASEAN-China Media Cooperation Forum

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The 2025 ASEAN-China Media Cooperation Forum convened on May 25, 2025, in Luoyang, Henan Province, themed “Harnessing the Power of AI to Enhance Communication Cooperation in the Region.” The event brought together approximately 150 attendees including diplomatic envoys and media professionals from all 10 ASEAN member states, plus Chinese government officials and media representatives. Key participants included Secretary General Shi Zhongjun (石中軍) of the ASEAN-China Center, Cambodia’s minister of information Kem Gunawadh, Vietnam’s deputy minister Phan Tam, ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General San Lwin (via video), and President Du Zhanyuan (杜占元) of the China International Communications Group. International partners included: diplomatic representatives from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, plus ASEAN Youth Organization representatives. Co-hosted by the ASEAN-China Center (中國—東盟中心) and China International Communications Group (中國外文局), the forum launched joint initiatives on AI-powered media ecosystem governance and new media exchange programs, with discussions focused on what organizers characterized as combating fake news and promoting responsible AI use in media.

China News Service Hosts 12th World Chinese Media Forum

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The 12th World Chinese Media Forum (第十二屆世界華文傳媒論壇) opened on September 7, 2025, in Kunming, Yunnan Province, bringing together representatives from over 120 Chinese-language media outlets from more than 50 countries and regions across five continents. Attendees included Huang Huanming (黃煥明), president of Jian Hua Daily (柬華日報), and a representative from Cambodia China Times (柬中時報). The forum was hosted by China News Service (中國新聞社). Chen Xu (陳旭), deputy minister of the United Front Work Department (UFWD) and director of the State Council Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, attended the opening ceremony alongside Li Baojun (李保俊), Yunnan Provincial Committee Standing Committee member and head of the provincial division of the UFWD. The World Chinese Media Forum, described by official state media as playing a key role in “global Chinese media cooperation and consensus-building,” is a key vehicle for the CCP to exercise influence over media in diaspora communities.