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Hong Kong News Executives’ Association Hosts 40th Anniversary Dinner with Taiwan’s China Journalism Society

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On April 18, 2026, the Hong Kong News Executives’ Association (新聞行政人員協會) held its 40th anniversary dinner in Hong Kong, attended by more than 400 guests including representatives from Taiwan’s China Journalism Society (台灣中國新聞學會), whom the NEA singled out by name in its account of the event in an effort to foreground PRC-framed cross-strait ties. Far from being a recognized press-related organization in Taiwan, the China Journalism Society is profiled on the website of the All-China Journalists Association (中華全國新聞工作者協會), or ACJA — the party-led body that serves as the leading instrument of CCP press and journalism control in China, managing the issuance of press cards to all journalists and administering mandatory training in Marxist journalism doctrine — alongside those of the ACJA’s own member organizations. The China Journalism Society was originally founded in Chongqing in March 1941 and revived in Taiwan in 1965. Also in attendance were Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, the secretary-general of the Central Government’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong, and a deputy commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ office in Hong Kong. At the dinner, Lee discussed Hong Kong’s first five-year plan and the Northern Metropolis development, and shared his personal experiences using artificial intelligence products.

Hong Kong Press and News Executives’ Associations Sign MOU with Khabar Agency in Kazakhstan

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On June 2, 2026, the Newspaper Society of Hong Kong (香港報業公會) and the Hong Kong News Executives’ Association (新職行政人員協會) signed a memorandum of understanding with Khabar Agency (哈巴爾通訊社), Kazakhstan’s state-owned broadcaster, in Astana. The signing took place during a visit to Kazakhstan by Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu (李家超), who led a high-level delegation that for the first time included representatives of Hong Kong’s press industry. Under the agreement, the parties committed to jointly promoting what they described as “accurate narratives” about their respective regions, and to facilitating professional exchanges, training programs, and journalist study visits — language that mirrors official PRC framing around Western dominance of global public opinion and the need for alternative narrative channels. The agreement was one of seven MOUs signed between Hong Kong media and public and private sector counterparts in Kazakhstan during the visit. Hong Kong’s director of information services, Tse Chun-chung (謝振中), who accompanied the delegation in his first overseas trip in that role, said the visit responded to a policy direction set out in the previous year’s Policy Address to help local media expand networks beyond Hong Kong and “tell Hong Kong’s story well” (說好香港故事) — a phrase that echoes Xi Jinping’s directive to “tell China’s story well” (講好中國故事), a formulation used in the context of both tightening domestic media control and extending Chinese state influence over China’s narrative overseas.

China Media Group Signs Cooperation MOU with Radiodiffusion Télévision Sénégalaise

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On September 4, 2024, Shen Haixiong (慎海雄), deputy head of the Central Propaganda Department and director of China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台), or CMG, signed a memorandum of understanding with Alioune Sall, Senegal’s minister of communication, telecommunications, and digital economy, in Beijing. The signing covered cooperation in news exchange, joint program production, personnel training, and technology innovation. The agreement was witnessed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who was in Beijing for a state visit coinciding with the 9th Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (中非合作論壇), or FOCAC, held September 4–6, 2024. The CMG report framed the agreement as contributing to “advancing bilateral relations to a new level.” Radiodiffusion Télévision Sénégalaise (塞內加爾國家電視台), or RTS, operates five television channels and multiple radio frequencies, broadcasting in French, Wolof, and other languages. The 2024 MOU built on an earlier agreement signed in July 2018, under which RTS agreed to air a dedicated “China Theater” (中國劇場) programming block featuring Chinese dramas, documentaries, films, and animation dubbed into French.

People’s Daily and EU Reporter Sign Content-Sharing Agreement

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On September 20, 2015, the EU Reporter publisher Colin Stevens signed a memorandum of understanding in Beijing with Yang Zhenwu (楊振武), president of the People’s Daily (人民日報), the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper. The two sides agreed to exchange news, features, and video content and to build working relationships between staff in Brussels and Beijing. The signing took place during a People’s Daily-organized “One Belt One Road” (一帶一路) media conference, at which the EU Reporter was described as the only Western European outlet among approximately 60 invited media organizations. Stevens also met with Liu Yunshan (劉雲山), then the Politburo’s fifth-ranked member and the official overseeing propaganda and ideology, at the Great Hall of the People. Stevens claimed the agreement gave the EU Reporter access to a potential Chinese audience of “one point three five billion people,” apparently overlooking that China’s extensive state controls over its domestic news environment make meaningful foreign editorial access effectively impossible. No text of the MOU has been made public. Stevens, who founded the EU Reporter in 2008, has worked for decades as a journalist in the UK.

Sichuan International Communication Center Signs MOU with Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents

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The Sichuan International Communication Center (四川國際傳播中心), or SICC, a provincial-level international communication body launched in March 2022, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (馬來西亞旅遊業協會) in Kuala Lumpur. The agreement, announced on May 27, 2026, covers resource co-development, joint promotional activities, tourist referrals, service coordination, and policy innovation, with the stated aim of raising the international profile of both destinations and promoting people-to-people exchange. The Sichuan center cited the bilateral context of Xi Jinping’s April 2025 state visit to Malaysia — which it framed as launching a new “golden 50 years” of relations — and noted that a mutual visa-exemption agreement took effect on July 17, 2025. The center also promoted its inbound tourism platform, PandaGuide (熊貓指南), which it reported had attracted more than 1,801 groups of inbound tourists since visa transit policy changes. That same week, PandaGuide’s X account posted propaganda content tied to a Sichuan tour by Taiwanese internet celebrity Holger Chen (陳之漢), also known as “Guan Zhang” (館長), using the phrase “two shores are one family” (兩岸一家) and thanking him for “speaking up for cross-strait relations.”

Xi Pens Article for Greek Newspaper Kathimerini

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On November 10, 2019, ahead of his state visit to Greece, Chinese President Xi Jinping published a signed article in the Athens-based daily Kathimerini titled “Let Wisdom of Ancient Civilizations Shine Through the Future” (讓古老文明的智慧照鑒未來). The article described China and Greece as peer “great ancient civilizations” (偉大的古老文明), citing a claim by Greek novelist Nikos Kazantzakis that “Confucius and Socrates were two masks that covered the same face of human logic” — in this way using a Greek voice to lend credibility to his claims of deep culture affinity. Xi also urged both countries to cooperate more on the Belt and Road Initiative (一带一路), China’s massive global infrastructure program, which Greece formally joined in 2018. The article closed with a mention of a push for both countries toward “a community with a shared future for mankind” (人類命運共同體), one of the Chinese Communist Party’s key slogans for foreign policy, which frames China as the architect of an alternative global order to replace the Western-led one. 

China Media Group Signs “China Theater” Broadcasting Agreement with Radiodiffusion Télévision Sénégalaise

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On July 19, 2018, China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台), or CMG, and Radiodiffusion Télévision Sénégalaise (塞內加爾國家電視台), or RTS, signed a framework agreement in Dakar to establish a “China Theater” (中國劇場) programming block on RTS, according to a report by international radio broadcaster China Radio International (中國國際廣播電台), or CRI. Gao Shijun (高世軍), head of CMG’s Western Europe bureau (西歐總站), signed on behalf of CMG, while RTS president Racine Talla signed for the Senegalese side. Under the agreement, RTS agreed to broadcast French-dubbed Chinese dramas, documentaries, feature films, and animation produced or translated by CMG. The signing took place at the launch ceremony of the “Chinese Film and Television Africa Screening Plan” (中國影視非洲放映計劃), attended by Zhang Yanbin (張雁彬), special representative of China’s State Council Information Office, who said in remarks that the initiative was timed to coincide with an upcoming state visit by President Xi Jinping to Senegal, and described it as a vehicle for “people-to-people connectivity” as promoted by the Belt and Road Initiative (一帶一路). China’s ambassador to Senegal, Zhang Xun (張迅), also attended, framing the programming block as a contribution to “civilizational exchange” between China and Africa.

EU Reporter

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The EU Reporter, founded in 2008 by UK journalist Colin Stevens, is a Brussels-based news website covering European Union affairs, politics, economics, environmental issues, and popular culture. The outlet publishes in all European Union languages and has a social media presence on X and Facebook. In September 2015, Stevens traveled to China to meet Liu Yunshan (劉雲山), a senior official in the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda department, and signed a content-sharing agreement with the People’s Daily (人民日報), the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party. In 2025, at the Silk Road Global News Awards, a journalism award ceremony organized by the People’s Daily and the Belt and Road News Network, Stevens received the “Best Reporting Award” for an article he wrote on the Belt and Road Initiative and China-EU ties.

Chinese Embassy in Belgium

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The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China (中華人民共和國) in Belgium is China’s chief diplomatic mission in the country, located in Brussels. The mission was established in 1971, following the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The embassy serves as the primary channel for political, economic, and cultural relations between China and Belgium.