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All Lingua Sinica Dispatches

Delegation from People’s Daily Visits Algeria’s El Moudjahid

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A delegation from People’s Daily (人民日報), the Chinese state newspaper, visited the Algerian daily El Moudjahid in June 2024, where staff from both papers discussed historical China-Algeria ties, noting China’s early recognition of Algeria’s provisional government in December 1958. El Moudjahid CEO Brahim Takheroubte discussed potential collaboration with the Chinese delegation, which included eight senior journalists. Founded in 1948, the People’s Daily is the official flagship newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), operating directly under the CCP Central Committee. The paper maintains an Algiers bureau that opened approximately nine months before the June 2024 visit. People’s Daily‘s editorials are widely viewed as reflecting official Chinese government positions.

Chinese Consulate General in Rio de Janeiro Hosts Media Dialogue Session

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On December 9, 2025, the Chinese Consulate General in Rio de Janeiro held a media dialogue session titled “China’s Governance and China-Brazil Cooperation,” as reported by People’s Daily. Consul General Tian Min (田敏) and consular officials gave presentations explaining the significance of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, a major Communist Party leadership meeting held in October 2025 that adopted recommendations for China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030). The session also served as a platform for the Party’s messaging on Taiwan, with officials instructing media on “correctly understanding and viewing the Taiwan issue” (正確認識看待台灣問題). Discussions also covered China-Brazil political trust, trade, and cultural exchange. The session was described as having a “friendly and harmonious atmosphere” (氣氛友好融洽) by People’s Daily. Brazilian media attendees included representatives from the daily O Globo, financial newspaper Valor Econômico, political news website Brasil 247, and three other outlets; Chinese media participants included People’s Daily, Xinhua News Agency, and China Media Group.

China Media Group Signs Strategic Cooperation Agreement with Macau SAR

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On September 28, 2025, in Macau, China Media Group (CMG) and the Macau Special Administrative Region signed a framework agreement to “deepen strategic cooperation” in news reporting, talent exchange, international communication and sports events, with Macao SAR Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai (贺一诚) and CMG President Shen Haixiong (慎海雄) attending the ceremony. Officials at the signing ceremony said the partnership would help Macao “enhance its international communication capabilities” (提升国际传播能力) and build the region into an “exchange and cooperation base with Chinese culture as the mainstream.” Zheng Xincong (郑新聪), the head of the PRC government’s Liaison Office in Macau, described the agreement as establishing “an important platform” for “telling Macao’s stories to the world” and providing “new impetus” for CMG to become a “world-class, new-type mainstream media group” — the term “mainstream” in this context meaning that it aligns with the goals of the Chinese Communist Party.

China and Maldives State Media Sign Cooperation Agreement

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China Media Group (中央廣播電視總臺) and Maldives Public Service Media signed a cooperation memorandum in Beijing on January 10, 2024, during Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu’s state visit to China. The signing by Shen Haixiong (慎海雄), president of China Media Group and deputy minister of the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, and Ibrahim Khaleel, Maldivian Minister at the President’s Office for Strategic Communications, was witnessed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Muizzu. The agreement aims to establish “regular cooperation mechanisms” for content exchange, industry collaboration, personnel exchanges, and technological innovation. State media claimed this would “contribute to media strength to promoting comprehensive strategic partnership relations” between the countries. Maldives Public Service Media, established in 2015, is the country’s official media organization with four TV channels, three radio frequencies, and multiple digital platforms. This agreement followed the upgrading of China-Maldives relations to a “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership” during the same visit, with 20 cooperation documents signed across various sectors.

Chinese Ambassador Criticizes EU Sanctions in Portuguese Press

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On April 26, 2021, the Chinese Ambassador to Portugal published a signed article in the Portuguese newspaper Diário de Notícias titled “Jointly Safeguard the Healthy Development of China-EU Relations” (共同維護中歐關係健康發展). In the article, the ambassador expressed “regret” over the EU sanctions targeting Chinese officials over human rights abuses in Xinjiang, saying that China only imposed counter-sanctions as a retaliatory measure, labeling the EU actions as interference in China’s internal affairs. The ambassador also discussed Portugal’s role as the EU’s rotating presidency holder in the first half of 2021 and expressed hope that Portugal would promote “objective” views of China among EU member states. The article followed the levying of joint sanctions in March 2021 by the European Union, the US, Canada and the UK against senior Chinese officials over abuses targeting the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang, which prompted Beijing to retaliate by blacklisting numerous EU lawmakers and scholars. 

Italia News Online Partners with China Media Group

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In May 2021, Italia News Online, a magazine owned by Atlanis srl, announced a content distribution agreement with China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台), China’s state broadcaster under direct control of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Propaganda Department. The deal allows Italia News Online to distribute Italian-language productions from CGTN (中國環球電視網), CMG’s international English-language news channel, through its website and social media channels. According to the announcement, the content focuses on promoting cultural and socio-economic exchanges between Italy and China. 

Nicaragua Signs Television Collaboration with China Media Group

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On February 22, 2022, Nicaragua’s Council of Communication and Citizenship (傳播與公民委員會) signed a collaboration agreement with China Media Group (中國媒體集團) to co-create a “Chinese Theater” (中國劇場) programming block for broadcast on Canal 6 (第六頻道), the Ortega government’s flagship state television channel, in a media system that has drawn frequent international criticism for its “favorable government treatment of their businesses and political interests.” The agreement was concluded with CMG’s Television and Film Dubbing Centre (電影電視配音中心) and signed by Daniel Edmundo Ortega Murillo, son of President Daniel Ortega and media coordinator of the Council, alongside a Chinese delegation attending virtually.

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.

CMG Signs MoU to Broadcast 2026 Winter Olympics

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The China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台) signed a memorandum of understanding with Italian foundation Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 on June 23, 2025, to become a rights-holding broadcaster for the Winter Olympic Games in Milano area in February 2026. The state-run media group, directly under the CCP’s Central Propaganda Department, will collaborate on news coverage, program production, and promotional campaigns ahead of and during the Games. CGTN, the Chinese group’s international broadcasting arm, reported that the agreement includes integrating artificial intelligence and 8K ultra-high-definition broadcasting technologies into live coverage. Emphasizing the bilateral significance of the arrangement, the two sides characterized the commercial deal as an opportunity to deepen China-Italy relations, coinciding with the 55th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the People’s Republic of China and Italy, formally established on November 6, 1970.