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Activity Type: Media Training or Seminar

Spanish Journalists Visit China for 10-Day Training Course

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

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.

Taiwan’s Excellence Media Leads Delegation to Xiamen

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

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.

Vietnam-China Friendship Journey Media Tour

Guangdong Radio and Television (廣東廣播電視台) organized a week-long propaganda tour for Vietnamese journalists, media representatives, and scholars from December 22-29, 2025, traveling through Guangxi and Guangdong provinces. The “Vietnam-China Friendship Journey” (Hành trình hữu nghị Việt-Trung) coincided with the 75th anniversary of China-Vietnam diplomatic relations and Vietnam’s Year of People-to-People Exchanges with China. Participants visited “red sites” connected to Vietnamese revolutionary history and Ho Chi Minh’s activities in Guangdong, framing China’s historical role in Vietnam’s communist revolution. Vietnamese Consul General in Guangzhou Nguyen Viet Dung (阮越勇) emphasized the tour implements the “six improvements” framework for bilateral relations, particularly “building a more solid social foundation” through media and academic exchanges. The itinerary combined revolutionary heritage sites with visits to modern Chinese media centers in Shenzhen, Dongguan, and Guangzhou to “share experiences in content production and technology application” for external communication—coordinating propaganda approaches between Chinese and Vietnamese state media under the banner of friendship, a term the CCP uses to condition relationships on accommodating China’s core interests.

2019 China Australia Journalist Exchange

The 2019 China Australia Journalist Exchange brought five Australian journalists to Shanghai, Qingdao, and Beijing for industry field trips and meetings exploring clean energy technology, carbon emissions reduction, US-China trade tensions, and the Belt and Road initiative. Operated in collaboration with the Melbourne Press Club and supported by the Australian Embassy in Beijing, the program was led by Melbourne Press Club CEO Mark Baker, a former China correspondent. The five participants — Tom Dusevic (The Australian), James Fernyhough (The Australian Financial Review), Matilda Marozzi (ABC Radio Melbourne), Sarah Steger (The West Australian), and Madeleine Stuchbery (The Weekly Times) — produced reporting on climate finance, trade war impacts, electric vehicles, and port automation. The exchange, established in 2013 by the Asia Pacific Journalism Centre and the state-affiliated All-China Journalists Association (中华全国新闻工作者协会), aimed to improve newsroom capacity for covering bilateral relations.

Guangzhou Hosts Cross-Strait and Southeast Asia Media Tour

More than 40 Chinese-language journalists and creators from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and Southeast Asia took part in the “2025 Cross-Strait and Southeast Asian Chinese-Language Media Guangzhou Tour” (两岸暨港澳·东南亚华文媒体广州行) on December 2, 2025, in Guangzhou. The three-day program, themed “New Quality in the Bay Area, New Colors in Yangcheng” (湾区新质 羊城新彩), brought participants to tech parks, industrial zones, and cultural landmarks — emphasizing the official framing of the “Greater Bay Area,” a development vision including southern Chinese cities along with Hong Kong and Macau. The event was hosted by the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (海峡两岸关系协会), or ARATS, and the Guangzhou Taiwan Affairs Office (广州市台办), together with the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Guangdong People’s Government (廣東省人民政府台灣事務辦公室) and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council (國務院台灣事務辦公室). Ma Xiaoguang (马晓光), vice-president of ARATS, said the event aimed to showcase Guangzhou’s development and promote “telling China’s story” (讲好中国故事). At the launch ceremony, the original song “Hand in Hand” (心手相牵), which coverage by the CCP’s official People’s Daily called “a collaboration between Guangzhou and Taiwan,” was released, along with a propaganda micro-documentary series. Among the participants in the event, one report mentioned the presence of Li Yixiu (李易修), a pro-China Taiwanese influencer known as “History Brother” (歷史哥), and a “Taiwan youth” identified as Yang Shuping (杨舒评).

Foreign Journalists Join Maritime Silk Road Media Tour

On November 30, journalists from Fiji, Malaysia, Indonesia, and other Asia-Pacific nations visited the SuperX Farm demonstration facility operated by XAG (極飛科技), a Guangzhou-based agricultural technology company, as part of the Maritime Silk Road Joint Media Tour organized by “South,” the English-language platform of the Nanfang International Communication Center (南方國際傳播中心), or NICC. NICC is a provincial-level ICC under the CCP-run Nanfang Media Group (南方報業傳媒集團), which publishes the Nanfang Daily newspaper and other publications in China’s southern Guangdong province. The tour showcased drones, robots, and AI-driven precision farming operations. Participants included Ritika Devi from the Fijian Broadcasting Corporation, Himanshu Bhatt from Malaysia’s The Sun, and a journalist from Indonesia’s Antara News Agency. According to the reports, Devi stated that “with drone technology that reduces labor, we can overcome these challenges,” while Bhatt described it as “a good marriage between technology and a necessary mission.” The Indonesian representative was quoted as praising China’s technological prowess, emphasizing their country’s technological needs, and calling on Chinese investors to explore opportunities in Indonesia.

Yunnan ICC Hosts Training Tour with Southeast Asia Journalists

In early August 2025, the Yunnan Province People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (雲南省人民對外友好協會) and the Yunnan South and Southeast Asia Regional International Communication Center (雲南省南亞東南亞區域國際傳播中心), the province’s office tasked with external propaganda (外宣) work, organized a five-day media training and cultural exchange program, bringing together more than 20 young bloggers and media practitioners from China, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Participants visited historical sites including the Nanqiao Mechanic Museum (南僑機工分館), which commemorates the more than 3,000 overseas Chinese mechanics who supported China’s war effort during WWII by maintaining the vital Burma Road supply route. As they discussed the topic of peace, participants in the program also learned video production and AI techniques. In a PRC political context, references to “peace” as frequently used in diplomatic exchanges generally include the absence of interventionism and colonialism — making the case for China as a benevolent partner. The Yunnan South and Southeast Asia Regional International Communication Center was founded in May 2022 under the propaganda office of the Yunnan Provincial Committee of the CCP, the province’s top leadership. While a full list of participants was not made public, two participants mentioned in related reports included a Vietnamese student from Beijing Foreign Studies University (北京外國語大學) and a Malaysian student from Xiamen University (廈門大學).