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Activity Type: Media Training or Seminar

CIGC and Xinhua Host China-Greece Dialogue Forum in Athens

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On May 12, 2025, the “Red Hall Forum: China-Greece Cooperation and Exchange Dialogue” (紅廳論壇:中國希臘合作交流對話會) was held at the Zappeion Palace in Athens, organized by Xinhua News Agency and Institute of Party History and Literature (中央黨史和文獻研究院) of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. According to Chinese media, the forum brought together representatives from both countries to discuss bilateral cooperation, with sub-forums on economic affairs and energy sustainability. In remarks closely echoing official CCP foreign policy language, Chinese Ambassador Fang Qiu (方遒) framed Greece and China as two ancient civilizations capable of injecting “stability and constructive force into the world,” called for advancing “high-quality” Belt and Road cooperation, and described deeper China-Europe connectivity as a shared goal, according to Xinhua. Yannis Theofanopoulos, former Greek Ambassador to China and President of the Greece-China Friendship Association, recalled his time in Beijing and stressed that despite geographic distance, the two countries share “deep cultural ties,” a framing China routinely employs to foster diplomatic legitimacy and support partnerships under the BRI. Athens News Agency Editor-in-Chief Aimilios Perdikaris called for stronger media cooperation, arguing journalism plays an “irreplaceable” role in fostering civilizational exchange — language that directly echoes Xi’s messaging since the 20th National Congress in October 2022.

Xinhua Hosts AI Training Workshop for Journalists in Kenya

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On August 26, 2025, Xinhua News Agency’s Africa Regional Bureau hosted a journalism training workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, themed “The Rise of Artificial Intelligence and Its Impact on Journalism” (AI崛起及對新聞業影響). According to Xinhua, nearly 100 editors and reporters from mainstream media outlets in Kenya, Ethiopia, Botswana, and other African countries participated in the hybrid-format event — described by Xinhua as the first journalism training exchange hosted by a Chinese media outlet for African media. The workshop showcased Xinhua’s AI-integrated news workflows and framed the event explicitly around how Global South media could strengthen AI cooperation to empower news production and counter disinformation. Rosalia Omungo, Secretary-General of the Kenya Editors’ Guild (肯尼亞編輯協會), said after the training that China’s practices offered African media “a model to learn from,” while Patrick Vidija, an editor at the Standard (旗幟報), Kenya’s oldest English-language daily, described the training as timely in broadening understanding of AI applications in journalism.

CICG Hosts Civilization Exchange Dialogue in Paris

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On April 17, 2026, the Paris Chinese Cultural Center hosted an event that brought together scholars, publishers, and industry representatives from both countries, focusing on technological innovation and cross-cultural communication in the age of artificial intelligence. The event, “Encounter China: Civilization Exchange Dialogue” (遇鑒中國」文明交流對話會), was organized by China International Communications Group (中國國際傳播集團), or CICG, a state-controlled media organization. According to Chinese state media, participants discussed digital publishing and how AI can facilitate interactions between China and France, highlighting the growing role of emerging technologies in shaping future cultural exchanges. The event was also framed around the Chinese Communist Party’s concept of “new quality productive forces” (新質生產力), a political slogan coined by Xi Jinping in 2023 to describe a state-directed, innovation-led economic model emphasizing high technology and self-sufficiency. CICG editor-in-chief Gao Anming (高岸明) said that AI-assisted translation could serve as a tool for expanding Sino-French cultural ties. The event also promoted “China Keywords: New Quality Productive Forces,” a multilingual book series compiled and published by CICG in 15 languages, which presents official Chinese Communist Party political and economic concepts, framed as objective definitions, to international audiences.

Spanish Journalists Visit China for 10-Day Training Course

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In August 2025, 26 Spanish journalists and analysts traveled to Beijing for a ten-day training course on China, organized by the China International Communications Group (中國國際傳播集團), a state media organization established in 1949 and directly under the CCP’s Central Propaganda Department. The course was co-sponsored by the China International Development Cooperation Agency (國家國際發展合作署), Beijing’s foreign aid body under the State Council, established in 2018, and by the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China. Spanish participants included representatives from the digital newspaper El Semanal de La Mancha; the Madrid-based organization Fundación Cátedra China; Mundo Global, a publication affiliated with the same foundation; and El País, one of Spain’s largest daily newspapers. The program included conferences, institutional visits, and cultural exchange activities, and was promoted as fostering “a richer and more nuanced vision of contemporary China among Spanish media professionals,” language that echoes Beijing’s longstanding directive to “tell China’s story well” (講好中國故事). The delegation visited the headquarters of Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television (CCTV), both state-controlled outlets. At the opening ceremony, Guan Zhiyong (關志勇), a deputy director-general within CIDCA’s Department of International Cooperation, described the event as “a concrete action to implement initiatives proposed by President Xi,” linking it to the Action Plan for Strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (2025–2028), a bilateral cooperation framework also covering cultural exchanges, adopted during Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s visit to Beijing in April 2025.

Xinhua Hosts China-Poland Economic Forum in Warsaw

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On June 17, 2025, in Warsaw, Poland, China’s official Xinhua News Agency organized a forum with Li Danhong (李丹红), charge d’affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Poland, Polish Media Association (波兰媒体协会) President Marek Traczyk, and former Polish Deputy Prime Minister Janusz Piechocinski attending at Lukaszewski University. Xinhua claimed in official coverage that the event would “enhance economic cooperation and mutual understanding” between the countries, with Li presenting China’s commitment to “building an open global economy” and “sharing the dividends of its modernization,” while Traczyk, using terms clearly echoing the official discourse of the CCP, described it as enabling “mutually beneficial cooperation” and contributing to “world peace, development, and shared prosperity.” The forum positions itself as promoting bilateral exchanges through China’s visa-free policy, but the emphasis on China’s development model presentation and standard diplomatic language about “shared prosperity” (共同富裕) suggests soft power objectives rather than independent economic dialogue.

China Hosts Salvadoran Journalists for “Two Sessions” Press Tour

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In March 2026, the PRC invited a select group of Salvadoran journalists, primarily from state-aligned outlets, to cover the annual “Two Sessions” political event in Beijing. Such invitations generally include all-expenses-paid travel and “capacity building” workshops that emphasize the successes of the Chinese socialist model. By providing exclusive access to high-level political meetings, the PRC ensures that the resulting coverage in El Salvador mirrors the official Chinese perspective on sensitive topics like the “One China” principle and Chinese investments and infrastructure support that, some critics argue, serve geopolitical objectives that could be damaging to the country.

Taiwan’s Excellence Media Leads Delegation to Xiamen

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A delegation of ten Taiwan entrepreneurs led by Xu Banghao (徐邦浩), president of Taiwan’s Excellence Global Media Corporation (卓越全球傳媒股份有限公司), visited Xiamen on August 19–20, 2024, touring cross-strait entrepreneur incubator facilities including Qida Taixiang (啟達台享) and the Haixi MCN Cross-Strait Youth Base (海西MCN兩岸青年三創基地). The base was established in November 2022 under the direction of the Huli District Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau Affairs Office (湖里區台港澳辦) as an incubator for Taiwan youth in e-commerce and livestreaming, reported at its founding by the Party’s official People’s Daily. A July 2025 Fujian Daily article subsequently identified the base as a component of Xiamen’s state-directed cross-strait integration strategy, explicitly linking it to goals of advancing Taiwan compatriots’ “ethnic, cultural, and national identity” (民族認同、文化認同、國家認同) with the mainland. The delegation also visited the Huli District Administrative Services Center (湖里區行政服務中心), where members applied for PRC mainland resident permits (居住證). The visit was reported by the Straits Herald (海峽導報), a Fujian-based CCP-directed newspaper. According to an April 2024 report from People’s Daily Online, the MCN initiative is a state-guided project managed by the Huli District Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao Affairs Office (湖里区委台港澳办) and the Huli District Committee Organization Department (湖里区委组织部) alongside the local United Front Work Department (湖里区委统战部), whose role, according to the report, is to facilitate “national conditions” (国情) training — a reference to ideological and patriotic education — through economic and digital media incentives. 

Indonesian and Malaysian Journalists Visit Xinjiang

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Journalists from Indonesia and Malaysia visited the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region from February 22-27, 2019, as part of the ASEAN Elites China Tour 2019. According to a report by Xinhua News Agency, the group included a senior editor from the Indonesian newspaper Kompas, an assistant editor from the Malaysian newspaper Sinar Harian, the chief editor of the Indonesian digital platform IDN Times, and representatives from Liputan6, Metro TV,  and Antara (Indonesia’s national news agency). The journalists visited what Chinese authorities described as “vocational education and training centers” in the eastern Shule and Hotan County. Participants were quoted describing facilities as having “spacious buildings” and being “well-equipped,” with one journalist quoted by Xinhua saying that it was “not as reported by some news outlets.” Human rights organizations have criticized such government-organized tours as highly controlled and designed to counter international reporting that has documented serious human rights abuses in Xinjiang. International organizations, including the United Nations Human Rights Office, have documented that more than one million Uyghurs and other Muslims have been arbitrarily detained in these facilities since 2017, with torture and other abuses reported by former detainees.

Foreign Journalists Tour Chinese Industry Sites During Belt and Road Media Forum

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Organized around the 2025 Belt and Road Media Cooperation Forum (2025″一带一路”媒体合作论坛), a joint Chinese and foreign media interview team (中外媒体联合采访团) conducted multi-city site visits across China — reported in the CCP’s official People’s Daily on February 12, 2026. The government-facilitated journalist delegation toured five locations: State Power Investment’s Shizitan Hydroelectric Station in Chongqing, China Overseas Land’s Daji Lane commercial district (中海大吉巷商圈) in Beijing, Yili’s Yunnan dairy factory, Fenjiu Group’s distillery in Shanxi, and Great Wall Motors’ Xushui plant in Hebei. Participating foreign media included outlets from Georgia, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, Cuba, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania, and Lesotho. “In China, I saw the process of technological development. The Shizitan Hydropower Station is evidence of modernized development,” said Catherine Gulua, founder and editor-in-chief of Georgia’s Mutavari Media Center, on her third documented China visit since 2023. A previous journalist tour, including Gulua, provided a clear opportunity for Chinese state media to promote positive views of the country in the voice of visiting journalists, a common tactic for organized tours, which are not purely educational.