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All Lingua Sinica Dispatches

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.

China Media Group Signs Four Serbian Media Partnerships

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China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台) signed four cooperation agreements with Serbian media and cultural institutions on May 8, 2024, during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Serbia. CMG Director and Deputy Minister of the Publicity Department Shen Haixiong (慎海雄) signed agreements with Serbia’s Presidential Media Relations Department, Politika newspaper, Radio Television of Serbia, and the Ministry of Culture. The agreements were witnessed by Xi Jinping and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. Officials said the agreements would promote “people-to-people exchanges” (人文交流) and contribute to building a “China-Serbia community of shared future in the new era” (新時代中塞命運共同體) through “news exchange, joint programming, and technical cooperation” (新聞信息交換、聯合制播節目、技術交流). The agreements were described as part of Xi’s state visit outcomes, with CMG cited as signing the most cooperation documents among participating institutions. Politika is Serbia’s oldest and most influential daily newspaper, founded in 1904.

China-Bangladesh Media Cooperation Seminar 2018

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The Chinese Embassy in Bangladesh hosted a China-Bangladesh media cooperation seminar on July 8, 2018, with Chinese Ambassador Zhang Zuo (張佐) delivering remarks and Bangladesh Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu serving as chief guest. The seminar brought together executives from major Bangladeshi media outlets including United News of Bangladesh, Daily Naya Diganta, The Independent, The Financial Express, NTV, RTV, and ATN, with over 30 local media organizations and Press Trust of India reporters covering the event. Also participating was Aaj Kaal, an Indian newspaper based in Kolkata. Ambassador Zhang proposed four recommendations for strengthening bilateral media cooperation, encouraging Bangladeshi media to serve as “amplifiers” for China-Bangladesh relations, “seeders” of friendship, and “promoters” of cooperation. Minister Inu praised the strategic partnership’s development and expressed government support for enhanced media collaboration. Prior to the seminar, Zhang met privately with Inu to discuss bilateral relations and media cooperation.

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.

China Signs Media Cooperation Deals with Ukraine

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From February 8-17, 2017, Tian Jin (田進), Deputy Diretor of China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (國家新聞出版廣電總局), led a Chinese broadcasting delegation to Ukraine, the UK, and Romania to strengthen bilateral media cooperation. The delegation signed a cooperation memorandum with Ukraine’s National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting and a letter of intent with Ukraine’s National Broadcasting and Television Committee. The visit resulted in nine specific agreements covering joint productions, journalist exchanges, program broadcasting, content support, training, technical cooperation, and establishing permanent contact mechanisms. The delegation also donated Chinese films and TV programs to Ukrainian and Romanian broadcasters and witnessed the strategic cooperation agreement between Zhejiang Huace Film & TV Group and Britain’s ITV.

Guangxi Administration College Delegation Visits Jian Hua Daily

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On October 22, 2025, a delegation from the School of Marxism at the Guangxi Administration College (廣西行政學院, a provincial-level educational institute, visited Cambodia’s Chinese-language Jianhua Daily (柬華日報). According to coverage by Jianhua Daily, the delegation met with newspaper president Huang Huanming (黃煥明) to discuss what the outlet characterized as “deepening the Cambodia-China friendship,” including through cooperation on media and culture. The language of “friendship” is a typical frame used by China to characterize bilateral relations as well as people-to-people exchanges. The Chinese delegation was led by Hong Mingxing (洪明星), vice dean of the School of Marxism, who described Cambodia and China as “ironclad brothers” (鐵桿兄弟) — this being a term generally reserved in Chinese state media only for China’s relationships with Cambodia and Pakistan, which have historically enjoyed close political alignment. The Jian Hua Daily, founded in Cambodia in 2000, is published by the Federation of Cambodian Chinese (柬華理事總會).

Myanmar Think Tank Signs Xinhua Cooperation Deal

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On August 22, the Myanmar Narrative Think Tank and Xinhua News Agency signed a cooperation agreement in Yangon under the Global South Joint Communication Partnership Program (全球南方聯合傳播夥伴計劃), a Xinhua-led initiative that claims to promote cooperation between media outlets and research institutions from developing countries. Chairman Ko Ko (高高) of the Myanmar Narrative Think Tank and Xinhua’s Yangon Bureau Chief Zhang Dongqiang (張東強) signed the agreement, with Ko Ko stating the partnership aims to “strengthen people-to-people relations” and “contribute to peace, prosperity and sustainable development.” Zhang said during the signing ceremony that the agreement reflects Xinhua’s efforts to work with organizations in the Global South to “amplify their voices on the international stage” — language echoing China’s portrayal of itself in foreign policy as a champion of developing countries.

Global Times Hosts Dialogue in Brussels

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On January 27, 2026, the Global Times (環球時報), a CCP-controlled tabloid founded in 1993 under People’s Daily (人民日報), the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, co-hosted a media and think-tank forum in Brussels titled “Global Dialogue – China-EU Resonance.” Co-organizers were the Beijing-based University of International Business and Economics (對外經濟貿易大學) and the Brussel’s based but China-linked Institute for China-Europe Studies. The forum, framed around the 50th anniversary of China-EU diplomatic relations, brought together what the Global Times described as “dozens of guests” from Chinese and European think tanks, media outlets, and business communities. However, a full participant’s list cannot be found online. Chinese Ambassador to Belgium Fei Shengchao (費勝潮) and a representative of the Chinese Mission to the EU both delivered speeches conveying the standard CCP narrative that there are “no fundamental conflicts of interest” between China and the EU. This concept is routinely used by Chinese leaders, including Xi Jinping, despite real underlying differences over such issues as human rights concerns in China, the government’s policies in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, and tensions in the Taiwan Strait. The forum also featured the release of a poll from the Global Times Institute, a research unit under the media outlet, that purported to show that people in the EU have confidence in future trade and are interested in high-tech and digital cooperation. The poll was reportedly conducted between October and November 2025 across 20 EU member states as well as inside China — with more than 16,000 respondents, according to the Global Times. Unlike professional surveys like those conducted by Pew Research, the questionnaire for the survey was not made public, and the Global Times Institute did not explain its methodology. Polls are highly politicized in China, where the CCP’s policy is to “guide” public opinion, not to measure it objectively.

All-China Journalists Association

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The All-China Journalists Association (中華全國新聞工作者協會) was established on November 8, 1937, originally as the Chinese Young Journalists Association (中國青年記者協會), founded by wartime reporter Fan Changjiang (范長江) in Shanghai during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Operating as “a national people’s organization of the Chinese press under the leadership of the Communist Party of China,” the organization claims to represent over one million journalism professionals through 217 member organizations. The ACJA primarily serves to implement party media policies rather than protect press freedom, as its constitution explicitly states that it “serves as a bridge between the Party, the Chinese government and the press.” The organization plays a central role in China’s media diplomacy through initiatives like the Belt and Road News Network, launched in 2017 to cultivate relationships with journalists from Global South countries, with the ACJA working closely with the CCP’s United Front Work Department to manage outreach to international journalists. While presenting itself as a professional association that “safeguards the legitimate rights and interests of journalists,” independent analysis notes that the ACJA’s primary function remains ensuring media compliance with party directives through mechanisms including mandatory training in “Marxist View of Journalism” rather than defending journalistic independence.