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Activity Type: Media Summit

Third China-Australia Media Forum Held in Sydney

The Third China-Australia Media Forum (第三屆中澳媒體論壇) was held in Sydney on August 25, 2014, jointly organized by China’s State Council Information Office (中國國務院新聞辦公室) and Australian News Channel Pty Ltd (澳大利亞新聞頻道股份有限公司). Over 50 government and media representatives from both countries discussed topics including economic cooperation, reporting, and media exchange mechanisms under the theme “Media’s Role in Building Stable China-Australia Relations.” Cai Mingzhao (蔡名照), then-director of China’s State Council Information Office, delivered a keynote speech emphasizing the media’s role in fostering bilateral understanding and proposing three recommendations for strengthening cooperation. Paul Fletcher, representing Australia’s Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, noted the forum provided “a valuable platform” for media exchange. Chinese state media reported that “both sides agreed media exchanges are increasingly close and should continue playing a constructive role in deepening bilateral relations.” The forum, established in April 2006, alternates annually between the two countries.

China-Russia Media Dialogue Focuses on Telling Stories of Bilateral Friendship

The China-Russia Media Dialogue Forum was held in Beijing on July 31, 2023, bringing together representatives from more than 20 Chinese and Russian media outlets to discuss how to “tell stories of China-Russia friendship in the new era” (講好新時代中俄友好故事). Organized by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the forum featured representatives from Russian state-run outlets including Rossiyskaya Gazeta, TASS, and RT alongside counterparts from the official People’s Daily, Xinhua News Agency, and the China Media Group (CMG), the state-run media conglomerate under the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Propaganda Department. The two sides, said a readout on the session, shared stories of bilateral cooperation — including joint efforts to fight Covid-19 and exchanges of children from disaster areas. CPAFFC Vice President Yan Dong (鄢東) said media exchanges are a key platform for promoting bilateral friendship, noting that cooperation had yielded “abundant results” in recent years under the strategic guidance of both heads of state. The notion of “telling stories” is a direct reference to Xi Jinping’s policy on “external propaganda” (外宣), centered on the notion of “telling China’s story well” (講好中國故事), which was laid out during a speech in August 2013.

Lancang-Mekong Cooperation 2025 Top Ten News Release

The China Foreign Languages Bureau (中國外文局), also known as the China International Communication Group (CICG) — one of China’s key external propaganda entities — and Lao PDR propaganda officials jointly released the “Lancang-Mekong Cooperation 2025 Top Ten News” in Luang Prabang, Laos (老撾琅勃拉邦) on February 4, 2026, attended by approximately 200 participants. China Foreign Languages Bureau Vice Director Yu Yunquan (于運全) and Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Central Propaganda Department Vice Minister Khammon Chanthaxy (坎蒙·占塔吉) co-hosted the event, which emphasized building “multi-level media cooperation networks” and “shaping the Lancang-Mekong narrative system.” Khammon stated that media cooperation has “laid a solid foundation of public opinion” for the Laos-China community of shared future — referencing a core foreign policy concept of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The annual news selection is jointly conducted by Chinese state media including China Report (中國報道) magazine and mainstream media from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, now in its sixth year, designed to coordinate messaging on regional cooperation and strengthen what participants called “narrative collaboration” among the six countries.

People’s Daily Takes Part in Saudi Media Forum

The Saudi bureau of the Chinese Communist Party’s official People’s Daily established a booth at the fifth Saudi Media Forum (第五届沙特媒体论坛), which convened in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from February 2-4, 2026, focusing on “Media in an Evolving World.” The event attracted over 300 media professionals and experts from more than 20 countries. Running concurrently with the forum, the Future Media Exhibition featured participation from over 250 local and international institutions and companies. The forum provided a platform for discussing media transformation amid technological and geopolitical changes, reflecting Saudi Arabia’s efforts to position itself as a regional media hub while expanding ties with international media organizations, including Chinese state outlets.

Communication University Hosts China-South Korea Media Dialogue

On January 10, 2026, a symposium on China-South Korea media content exchange and “cultural community building” (文化共同體建設) — a term referencing Xi Jinping’s shared future foreign policy concept — was held at the Communication University of China (中國傳媒大學). Organized by the university’s Institute for a Community of Shared Future (人類命運共同體研究院), the event brought together scholars from both countries to discuss the dissemination of cultural products (referring to media content broadly, including films and television shows) and cooperation in the digital age. Participants analyzed media policy between the two countries, compared the strengths of the film industry, discussed the reception of Korean cultural products in China, and called for expanded distribution of Chinese content in Korean and Southeast Asian markets, while acknowledging persistent challenges, including asymmetric market access and content restrictions (which were not specified). Li Huailiang (李懷亮), director of the Institute for a Community of Shared Future for Mankind, said that China and South Korea should build “bridges of mutual trust” through media collaboration. Participants from South Korea included Joo Jung-min (朱定珉), president of the Korean Association for Media Policy and dean of the School of Media and Communication at Chonnam National University; Jung Hye-yoon (郑惠允), research fellow at the Center for Social Issues Research at Korea University; Ha Joo-yong (河周容), dean of the College of Social Sciences and director of the Institute of Social Science Research at Inha University; Lee Heon-yul (李宪律), dean of the School of Media Studies at Korea University; Lee Seung-hyun (李承炫), director of student affairs and dean of the International Education Institute at Dong Seoul University; and Chae Jung-hwa (蔡廷和), research professor at the ICT Law and Economics Research Institute at Sogang University.

Xinhua President Meets with Reuters and AP Presidents

On June 12, 2024, Xinhua News Agency President Fu Hua (傅華) met with Associated Press President and CEO Daisy Veerasingham and Reuters President Paul Bascobert in New York. Fu and Veerasingham signed a new cooperation agreement on news and information services, and both sides discussed artificial intelligence’s impact on media and Olympic coverage. Fu expressed hope for strengthening cooperation with Reuters on emerging technologies and international news services, noting the partnership between the two agencies dating back to 1957. While Xinhua provided enthusiastic coverage of the meetings, neither the Associated Press nor Reuters reported on them. These partnerships allow Western news agencies to operate in China, while Xinhua views the cooperation as part of China’s broader efforts to shape global discourse and enhance its government’s international image.

6th World Media Summit Held in Xinjiang

On October 14, 2024, Xinhua News Agency and the Xinjiang regional government co-hosted the 6th World Media Summit in Urumqi, China, with over 500 participants from 106 countries and regions attending, according to Xinhua. The summit focused on “Artificial Intelligence and Media Transformation.” Organizers arranged a tour of Xinjiang for attendees, which Xinhua documented in vlogs featuring media representatives from Thailand, Pakistan, and Myanmar describing their positive impressions of the region. China faces widespread allegations of human rights violations against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, including mass detention and forced labor, which the U.S. has characterized as genocide. China rejects these accusations, claiming the facilities are vocational training centers. 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).

Xinhua Hosts Dialogue with Reuters, AP and AFP

On October 12, 2024, representatives from Xinhua News Agency, Reuters, the Associated Press, and Agence France-Presse convened in Beijing for a high-level meeting among the four agencies. This was the second dialogue event hosted by Xinhua since the December 2023 inaugural meeting. Unlike the first meeting, which included top executives, the October gathering featured senior officials rather than agency leaders. According to Xinhua, the agencies discussed AI’s impact on journalism, with Xinhua’s president Fu Hua (傅華)  saying that AI poses many challenges to news reporting, including the risk of spreading false information through AI-generated images and videos. Fu suggested the agencies “embrace technological change” while combating misinformation, claiming “major global wire services should jointly shoulder the responsibility of upholding journalistic ethics.” Representatives from Reuters, AP, and AFP reportedly stated news agencies should redefine AI use while building safeguards, and all four agencies agreed to continue strengthening communication on AI-related topics. Xinhua has been keen to establish dialogue with the major international news wires in order to be seen as a key player in global information dissemination, but global news agencies have distanced themselves from the idea that cooperation with Xinhua relates to their professional journalism work — AP’s CEO emphasizing to US lawmakers in 2019 that cooperation is “purely commercial in nature.” 

Belt and Road Media Forum Held in Yangjiang

China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台) convened nearly 300 media representatives from 20 countries in Yangjiang (陽江), Guangdong Province, on December 7 for the 2025 Silk Road Television Community Summit Forum (絲綢之路電視共同體高峰論壇). Guangdong Provincial Party Secretary Huang Kunming (黃坤明) attended the opening ceremony alongside CMG Director and Central Propaganda Department Deputy Head Shen Haixiong (慎海雄), who delivered the keynote address. The state broadcaster used the event to advance media cooperation with countries participating in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (一帶一路) — Beijing’s infrastructure and development program spanning Asia, Africa, and Europe — hosting panels on AI-generated content and international sports broadcasting rights. Participants toured local manufacturing facilities and cultural heritage sites, including the Southern Song dynasty shipwreck “Nanhai No. 1” (南海一號), an 800-year-old merchant vessel salvaged in 2007 that authorities present as historical evidence legitimizing the modern Belt and Road Initiative. The forum released an “International Media Cooperation Yangjiang Initiative” (國際媒體合作陽江倡議) and annual work report for the Silk Road Television Community (絲綢之路電視共同體), a China Media Group-led international broadcasting alliance established in 2016 that now encompasses 149 media institutions from 64 countries. CMG announced new content distribution projects including CGTN Spanish channel broadcasts targeting Latin America. Yangjiang Mayor Yu Jinfu (余金富) delivered remarks in English promoting the coastal city’s role in historical maritime trade routes.