Skip to main content

Activity Type: Promotional or Propaganda Media Event

Kyrgyzstan Premieres China-Produced Belt and Road Documentary

On November 30, 2023, Bishkek hosted the premiere of the documentary One Belt, One Road: Next to You, marking the tenth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative, according to Kyrgyzstan’s state news agency Kabar. Chinese Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Du Dewen (杜德文), Kyrgyz Transport and Communications Minister Tilek Tekebaev, and Kyrgyz Deputy Minister of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy Chyngyz Esengul uulu attended. Du said the initiative had “evolved from a Chinese initiative into an international practice” over its first decade and voiced hope that continued cooperation would advance a “Chinese-Kyrgyzstan community with a common destiny” — an unmistakable reference to Xi Jinping’s key foreign policy phrase. The five-episode documentary covers infrastructure, trade, transport, agriculture, and cultural cooperation between the two countries, and was slated to air through “China TV Theater,” a strand created by China’s National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), the state agency that regulates broadcast and online audiovisual content and oversees the licensing of domestic and foreign media in China, to place Chinese state-produced programming on foreign broadcasters’ channels and platforms. Kabar described Dolon TV, its local carrier, as Kyrgyzstan’s second-largest cable operator, with more than 100 channels in Russian, Chinese, and English, and reported that the company has partnered with Chinese media on content adaptation, packaging, and dubbing since the Belt and Road Initiative’s launch.

RT and CCTV Premiere Joint WWII Documentary

Between May 20 and 22, 2026, timed to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to Beijing, RT and China Media Group’s CCTV jointly premiered a three-episode documentary titled The Last Strike (最後一擊), known in Russian as Последний удар, about the Soviet Union’s August 1945 Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation against Japan’s Kwantung Army in the closing days of World War II. According to CCTV, the documentary was produced to “promote a correct view of World War II history and safeguard international fairness and justice,” framing the operation as a case of Soviet-Chinese “coordinated combat” that helped end the war, and describing the Kwantung Army’s fortifications as an “Eastern Maginot Line” — a reference to France’s pre-war border defenses, which German forces bypassed in 1940, and which the term invokes here to characterize Japan’s defenses as elaborate but ultimately doomed to fail. RT described The Last Strike as the first documentary on the subject jointly produced and simultaneously broadcast by Russian and Chinese state media, drawing on interviews with nearly 20 witnesses, including a 106-year-old Soviet veteran, alongside researchers from Russia, China, and the United States. The first episode aired live on RT Documentary, RT’s documentary channel; the second and third aired May 21 and 22 on RT Documentary and CCTV-4, CCTV’s Chinese International Channel.

China Media Group Holds Hi China Event in Kuala Lumpur

In August 2024, the “HI CHINA – Discovering China Opportunities – Celebrating 50 Years of China-Malaysia Relationship” event was held at Sunway Velocity in Kuala Lumpur, commemorating five decades of diplomatic ties between China and Malaysia. Organized by China Media Group (中央广播电视总台) and supported by China Enterprises Chamber of Commerce in Malaysia (CECCM), the cultural exchange celebration featured speeches by Manoharan Periasamy, Director-General of Tourism Malaysia, and Shi Le (施乐), Director of the Sinhala Department of CMG’s Asian and African Languages Programming Centre. CECCM President Ni Qingjiu (倪庆久) participated as a distinguished guest in the opening ceremony. The event included booths showcasing Chinese cultural exchanges, which organizers said “deepened cultural interactions with the Malaysia public” and highlighted collaborative spirit between the two nations whose diplomatic relations were established on May 31, 1974. 

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

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.

Shenyang Hosts Cross-Strait Media Youth Symposium

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.

China News Service Hosts 12th World Chinese Media Forum

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.

Honduran State TV Airs CGTN Program Amid Diplomatic Shift

On March 26, 2023, just hours after Honduras severed ties with Taiwan, the Chinese international state broadcaster CGTN (中國國際電視台) aired a special program on Canal Ocho (第八頻道), Honduras’s state-owned “Channel 8.” The program, clearly prepared well in advance of the shift of diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to the PRC, revealed the diplomatic role played by Chinese state media in the transition. CGTN operates under China Media Group (中國媒體集團), the state-run conglomerate directly under the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Propaganda Department (中央宣傳部). CMG subsequently established a permanent bureau in Tegucigalpa, while Xinhua News Agency (新華社) opened a local office positioned as a hub for Central American operations. Shortly afterward, 30 Honduran journalists participated in a ten-day, all-expenses-paid tour of China under Foreign Ministry supervision — consistent with Beijing’s post-recognition media engagement strategy across the region.

Chinese Embassy Hosts Zimbabwe China Film Festival

The 2025 Zimbabwe-China Film Festival opened in Harare on August 5, attended by Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Zhou Ding (周鼎) and over 200 officials and diplomatic representatives. The festival, co-hosted by the Chinese Embassy, China’s National Film Administration, and Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Sport, Entertainment, Arts and Culture, featured four Chinese films, including Panda Plan, YOLO, The Captain, and Red Sea Operation. Ambassador Zhou emphasized that the festival demonstrated China’s “Global Civilization Initiative” and aimed to deepen cultural understanding during Zimbabwe’s 45th year of diplomatic relations with China. Deputy Director Luo Yang (羅楊) of China’s National Film Administration noted this year marks the 130th anniversary of world cinema and 120th of Chinese cinema, expressing hopes for expanded film industry cooperation. Zimbabwean Deputy Minister of Sport, Entertainment, Arts and Culture Jessaya welcomed the festival as supporting the country’s “Film Strategy 2025-2030,” while a representative from Zimbabwe’s Film Association praised the strengthened bilateral cultural exchange.

China and Indonesia Hold Youth Media Exchange Program

On August 29, 2025, the “We and the World Dialogue” (我們與世界對話) China-Indonesia youth media exchange took place in Jakarta, marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Nearly 100 young representatives from media organizations, universities, and research institutions participated. The event was co-organized by several Chinese institutions linked to the Guangxi Provincial Government, including the Information Office of the People’s Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (廣西壯族自治區人民政府新聞辦公室), the Guangxi International Communication Center (廣西國際傳播中心) — an office under the province’s propaganda office — and Guangxi Radio and Television (廣西廣播電視台). Indonesian partners included the state-run Televisi Republik Indonesia (印尼國家電視台) and the newspaper Harian InHua (印華日報). Participants explored three central themes throughout the event, including AI, media integration (媒體融合), and “Partners with Shared Destiny” (命運與共好夥伴) — this last theme clearly aligned with Xi Jinping’s foreign policy framework. This event is part of Guangxi’s broader role under a national plan in China to empower border provinces in the south to promote Chinese messaging across Southeast Asia.