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All Lingua Sinica Dispatches

2025 South and Southeast Asian Media Network Annual Meeting

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The 2025 South and Southeast Asian Media Network Annual Meeting (2025南亞東南亞媒體聯盟年會) was held on September 5, 2025, in Kunming, bringing together representatives from 11 countries including China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, India, and Sri Lanka. The event featured what Chinese state media characterized as “high-level participation” from propaganda and information ministers, underscoring the official and diplomatic core of what the Chinese hosts portrayed as a meeting about regional media cooperation. China Daily publisher Qu Yingpu (曲瑩璞) and Yunnan’s top propaganda official, Zeng Yan (曾艷), delivered keynote addresses. Zeng emphasized the need to build “a more united model of global media cooperation” (更團結的世界媒體合作典範) — a reference to China’s ambition of creating media industry blocs to counter what the leadership regards as an imbalance in Western dominance of global public opinion. Attendees launched new cooperation projects and discussed leveraging artificial intelligence for regional media development, with Myanmar’s information minister noting the need to learn from China’s technological advances. The meeting presented itself as a platform for “Global South” media collaboration while advancing China’s narrative influence through coordinated messaging and technology transfer initiatives. Among the foreign participants mentioned in news reporting was Vansay Tavinyan, editor-in-chief of Pasaxon newspaper (Laos); representatives from the Thai News Agency under Thailand’s state-owned public broadcaster, MCOT (Mass Communication Organization of Thailand); Qing Lian, the head of Cambodia’s Ministry of Information; and U Maung Maung Ohn, Myanmar’s information minister.

People’s Daily Takes Part in Saudi Media Forum

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The Saudi bureau of the Chinese Communist Party’s official People’s Daily established a booth at the fifth Saudi Media Forum (第五届沙特媒体论坛), which convened in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from February 2-4, 2026, focusing on “Media in an Evolving World.” The event attracted over 300 media professionals and experts from more than 20 countries. Running concurrently with the forum, the Future Media Exhibition featured participation from over 250 local and international institutions and companies. The forum provided a platform for discussing media transformation amid technological and geopolitical changes, reflecting Saudi Arabia’s efforts to position itself as a regional media hub while expanding ties with international media organizations, including Chinese state outlets.

Third China-Russia Media Forum

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The Third China-Russia Media Forum was held in Moscow on July 4, 2017, under the theme “New Future of China-Russia Cooperation and Media Mission.” TASS Director General Sergei Mikhailov (謝爾蓋·米哈伊洛夫) told Xinhua News Agency that the forum represented “a significant event” in the concluding China-Russia Media Exchange Year, with representatives from 75 media organizations signing 17 cooperation agreements. Mikhailov highlighted collaboration on strategic projects including China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” (一帶一路) and Eurasian Economic Union integration. He noted TASS’s long history with China dating to the 1920s and emphasized the importance of preserving cultural traditions amid global changes. The Media Exchange Year was announced by Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin in 2015, running from 2016-2017.

Chinese Ambassador Praises CCP Meeting in Portuguese Media

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On July 31, 2024, the Chinese Ambassador to Portugal published an op-ed in Portuguese outlets, including the weekly newspaper Diário de Notícias, regional radio station Iris FM, and the Portuguese Journalists Association website, talking about and promoting the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, a policy-setting meeting held in July 2024. The ambassador characterized the reforms introduced at the meeting as creating a “clearer blueprint” and called for deeper integration China-Portugal cooperation. He highlighted the “strong resilience, vitality, and potential” of China-Portugal relations and argued that the reforms would “inject more vitality” into bilateral cooperation.

Dimokratia Signs Deal With People’s Daily

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In December 2024, the Greek newspaper Dimokratia (Δημοκρατία) signed a content-sharing agreement with the People’s Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, describing it as the first such partnership between Greek and Chinese newspaper publishers. According to Dimokratia, a delegation from the People’s Daily visited Athens earlier in 2024 to arrange a deal by which the Greek newspaper would periodically publish translated articles from its Chinese partner on domestic and international topics. The paper said the agreement was a way to offer readers what it characterized, mirroring Chinese official talking points, as an alternative to dominant Western media viewpoints. “At a time when news transmission is marked by a dangerous uniformity, while new poles of global power are simultaneously emerging,” said the paper’s announcement, “Dimokratia considers it its duty to enrich its sources of information by drawing from every corner of the globe.” It also described the People’s Daily as friendly toward Greece.

CMG Hosts Exchange Event in Munich

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On October 11, 2024, the China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台) hosted a cultural exchange event in Germany to celebrate the 52nd anniversary of China-Germany diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the all-round strategic partnership, which was announced in March 2014. The event took place in Munich, where, according to media reports, approximately 100 attendees from various sectors, including CMG’s vice president, representatives from the Chinese Embassy, and officials from the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Energy and Technology, were in attendance. During the event, the German Vogel Communications Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding with CMG Europe, which, according to Vogel’s announcement, would include journalist exchange programs to China. The event also highlighted CMG’s cooperation with German broadcaster ZDF on documentary co-productions. 

Hong Kong CE Meets Chief of China Media Group

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On September 29, 2025, in Hong Kong, Chief Executive John Lee (李家超) met China Media Group (CMG) President and Editor-in-Chief Shen Haixiong (慎海雄) at Government House to discuss strengthening cooperation in communications, with Director of Information Services Apollonia Liu (劉李可頤) also attending. Mr Shen was leading a delegation to Hong Kong for a ceremony marking deepened cooperation between CMG and various sectors in the city. Lee expressed gratitude to CMG for “supporting the work” of the Hong Kong SAR Government and said the state broadcaster’s programming helps Hong Kong citizens “better understand the country’s history and development, enhancing their sense of national identity.” The Chief Executive said Hong Kong would “deepen co-operation with CMG by leveraging its international communication network to jointly tell the world good stories of China and Hong Kong,” language invoking Xi’s 2013 policy on external propaganda.

CMG Signs Deal With Greek Media at Bilateral Dialogue

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On October 30, 2023, China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台) hosted a “China-Greece Belt and Road Dialogue” (中國希臘”一帶一路”對話會) in Athens. The event was attended by former Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, who served as president from 2015 to 2020, China Media Group President Shen Haixiong (慎海雄), who has headed the umbrella state media organization since 2018, Greek Tourism Minister Vasilis Kikilias, who served in that role from August 2021 to March 2023, and Chinese Ambassador to Greece Xiao Junzheng (肖軍正). During the event, CMG signed a cooperation memorandum with Greece’s largest financial media outlet, Shipping and Business News (航運與商業報), covering international news reporting and financial content collaboration. CMG also exchanged an agreement with the Greek satellite platform NOVA to broadcast CGTN English and Documentary channels in Greece. Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni (麗娜·門佐尼) announced plans for a comprehensive cooperation memorandum with CMG covering multiple joint cultural projects.

Tourism Australia and China Media Group Sign Deal

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Tourism Australia, the Australian government’s international tourism promotion agency, and China Media Group (中国中央广播电视总台, CMG) signed a two-year Memorandum of Understanding in July 2025 at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, witnessed by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The agreement, formalized by Tourism Australia’s Robin Mack and CMG President Shen Haixiong (慎海雄), established a framework for co-creating tourism content across CMG’s television, radio, digital, and social media platforms. The partnership aimed to enhance Australia’s brand recognition in China through culturally attuned storytelling, featuring Australia’s landscapes, multicultural communities, and lifestyle. The collaboration supported Tourism Australia’s “Come and Say G’day” campaign launch in China that August, during a period when Chinese visitor numbers reached 860,000 annually, generating $9.2 billion in tourism expenditure with 26 percent year-on-year growth.