Skip to main content

Archives: Dispatches

All Lingua Sinica Dispatches

China and Kyrgyzstan Hold 2026 Media Cooperation Forum in Bishkek

Written by Editors on .

On May 27, 2026, the People’s Daily (人民日報), the Chinese Communist Party’s official newspaper, and Kyrgyzstan’s Kyrgyz Tuusu Publishing House co-hosted the 2026 China-Kyrgyzstan Media Cooperation Forum in Bishkek, with Global Times also involved in organizing the event. According to Global Times, roughly 100 officials, media figures, and business representatives from both countries attended. People’s Daily deputy editor-in-chief Cui Shixin (崔士鑫) linked the forum to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Eurasian security and economic bloc founded in 2001, ahead of its July 2026 session. He outlined four priorities for bilateral media work: building trust in each other’s reporting, advancing cooperation to “pave the way for prosperity,” deepening cultural exchange, and strengthening institutions to “amplify the voice of the SCO.” Cui’s language echoed Xi Jinping’s 2015 instruction that People’s Daily‘s overseas edition should become a “bridge” that builds trust. Kyrgyzstan’s Deputy Minister of Culture, Information, Sports, and Youth Policy, Salkyn Sarnogoeva, said journalists have become bridges between the two countries and their populations, echoing China’s narrative of media as a bridge between civilizations. Kyrgyz Tuusu Publishing House head Galina Baitekerek named journalist exchanges, joint media initiatives, digital-platform development, and support for young reporters as cooperation priorities. Slovo Kyrgyzstana editor-in-chief Elena Zholobova called the forum a “high-quality exchange platform” and said Chinese and Kyrgyz outlets could jointly produce content that “caters to the interests of readers in both countries.” At the event, People’s Daily signed a memorandum of understanding with Kyrgyz Tuusu Publishing House, and Global Times signed a cooperation agreement with Slovo Kyrgyzstana.

Henan International Communication Center Signs Cooperation Agreement With Argentina’s Huaren Toutiao

Written by Editors on .

In April 2023, the Henan International Communication Center (河南國際傳播中心) signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Argentina’s Huaren Toutiao (阿根廷華人頭條), one of 16 overseas Chinese-language media outlets that signed similar agreements with the center that month covering news coverage, joint events, and information sharing, according to Xuchang Net, a website operated by the CCP-run Xuchang Daily (許昌日報社) in the prefectural Henan city of Xuchang. Argentina’s Huaren Toutiao is a local edition of the broader Huaren Toutiao (華人頭條) network, launched in Argentina in May 2015 by Fujian Kebi Information Technology Co. Ltd. (福建可比信息科技有限公司), founded by Huang Qiwang (黃琪旺), who also identifies himself as deputy chairman of the Argentina Entrepreneurs Association and deputy chairman of the World Fujian Youth Federation (世界福建青年聯會). The network states it has signed operating agreements with Chinese-language media in more than 50 countries and regions, including Argentina, Canada, France, Spain, Italy, and Thailand, and has established partnerships with state outlets including China News Service and China News Network.

Henan International Communication Center Signs Agreement With Micromedia Communication Italy

Written by Editors on .

On July 21, 2026, the Henan International Communication Center (河南國際傳播中心) signed a cooperation agreement with Micromedia Communication Italy (意大利微視傳媒) in Milan, with discussions covering the overseas expansion of Chinese enterprises and prospects for Henan-Italy cooperation, according to Dahe Daily. The Henan center, established in June 2023 under the guidance of the propaganda office of the Henan CCP Provincial Committee and operated by the Henan Daily Press Group, had by November 2024 signed strategic cooperation agreements with 16 overseas outlets as part of its network of overseas Chinese-language media partners. Micromedia, established in Milan’s Chinatown district in late 2016, describes itself as a comprehensive international media company handling brand promotion, overseas production, exhibition events, and media placement across Italy and Europe. Its founder and chief executive, Jiang Jiakun (江家昆), told the paper the company’s mission had shifted from serving as a “bridge” for the Chinese community to a “window” onto China, saying the world lacked not information about China but a “true, objective, and vivid narrative” (真實、客觀、生動的中國敘事) of it. The report was headlined “Telling China’s Story Well to Europe” (面向歐洲講好中國故事), invoking CCP discourse introduced by Xi Jinping in 2013. Proposed joint projects included Shaolin kung fu tourism content and a Luoyang peony festival staged in Italy.

Dolon TV Gains Exclusive CCTV Rebroadcast Rights in Kyrgyzstan

Written by Editors on .

Beginning in 2015, privately owned Kyrgyz broadcaster Dolon TV received Chinese government subsidies through 2018 under a designation in China’s “National Cultural Export Key Project” catalogue, according to an OSCE Academy in Bishkek research report on Chinese information operations in Kyrgyzstan. Around the same period, Dolon TV secured free, exclusive rebroadcast rights to at least ten CCTV channels, according to China Index, an independent research project tracking PRC-linked media relationships, which also reports that Dolon TV produces original programming on Chinese cultural and economic projects in Kyrgyzstan. Unlike Xinhua, Wen Wei Po, and Silk Road Observer, Dolon TV is not registered as foreign media with Kyrgyzstan’s government, and operates nominally as an independent local broadcaster while carrying Chinese state television content and receiving state support.

People’s Daily Signs Media Cooperation MOU with Kyrgyz National University

Written by Editors on .

On May 28, 2026, a delegation from the People’s Daily (人民日報), led by deputy editor-in-chief Cui Shixin (崔士鑫), visited Kyrgyz National University in Bishkek. Vice-Rector Nazarkul Ishekeyev called the People’s Daily, which is published directly by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party as its chief “mouthpiece,” “one of the oldest and most influential daily newspapers in the People’s Republic of China.” He added that the partnership would serve as “a bridge between the cultures and education systems” of Kyrgyzstan and China. Cui said the collaboration would create opportunities ranging from news content sharing to journalism education programs. The two sides signed a memorandum of cooperation providing for faculty and student internships at the People’s Daily‘s Beijing headquarters, joint seminars, and collaborative research on artificial intelligence in journalism and coverage of the Belt and Road Initiative. The signing took place ahead of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit scheduled for September 1, 2026, in Bishkek. Cui was subsequently named in July 2026 as party group secretary of the All-China Journalists’ Association (ACJA), the CCP-led organizations that primarily serves to implement party media control and discipline policies.

Shandong Province and Kyrgyzstan Unveil Technical Training Institute in Bishkek

Written by Editors on .

On November 24, 2024, China and Kyrgyzstan unveiled the Ban-Mo Institute (班·墨學院) at Kyrgyz State Technical University in Bishkek, a vocational training institute jointly established by the Kyrgyzstan office of China Road and Bridge Corporation (中國路橋工程有限責任公司), Shandong’s Taishan Vocational and Technical College (泰山職業技術學院), Shandong Caishang Education Technology Co. (山東財商教育科技有限公司), and Kyrgyz State Technical University. The event was reported by Xinhua News Agency’s own Bishkek bureau chief correspondent, via Xinhua’s Belt and Road information platform, which described the institute’s purpose as providing “a pathway for Chinese technology to go global,” widening channels for Chinese “traditional culture” abroad, and supplying localized technical personnel for Chinese enterprises operating in Kyrgyzstan. Chinese embassy counselor Li Baojie (李保杰) called the institute, alongside a related China-Kyrgyzstan Technical College announced at the same event, “another important achievement” in bilateral education cooperation. Taishan Vocational and Technical College president Cui Genghu (崔耕虎) said the school aimed to combine “vocational skills and Chinese language” training to prepare workers for Chinese enterprises operating abroad, describing the effort as contributing to a China-Kyrgyzstan “community of shared future.” The institute is part of a Shandong provincial government initiative to build “Ban-Mo Institutes” overseas — a vocational education branding model that, like Tianjin’s separate Luban Workshop network, invokes ancient Chinese craftsman figures as a soft-power vehicle for China’s vocational education outreach.

Global Times Holds Photo Exhibition in Bishkek During Media Forum

Written by Editors on .

On May 27, 2026, Global Times (環球時報) held a stop of its “Overseas China Week” series in Bishkek, launching a photo exhibition titled “Linked by Mountains and Rivers, Bound by Shared Hearts — China and Kyrgyzstan Hand-in-Hand for the Future” alongside the 2026 China-Kyrgyzstan Media Cooperation Forum. Attendees included People’s Daily deputy editor-in-chief Cui Shixin (崔士鑫), Kyrgyzstan’s Deputy Minister of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy Salkyn Sarnogoeva, Kyrgyz Tuusu Publishing House head Galina Baitekerek, and a Chinese embassy counselor. The exhibition was organized around four themes described by Global Times as “shared security responsibilities,” “integrated development opportunities,” “joint ecological construction,” and “mutual learning among civilizations,” and included images of joint counter-terrorism drills, the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, and a Chinese-built waste-to-energy plant in Bishkek. The event also displayed the Russian-language edition of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China and Global Times feature coverage decoding the book, alongside AR translation glasses made by Chinese company LLVision. Global Times reported that Kyrgyz visitors, including a Kyrgyz National University Chinese-language teacher and the editor-in-chief of Slovo Kyrgyzstana, offered favorable impressions of the exhibition’s content and presentation. Global Times said the “Overseas China Week” series had previously appeared in South Africa, South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, and Kazakhstan.

Kyrgyzstan Premieres China-Produced Belt and Road Documentary

Written by Editors on .

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.

Zhejiang College Opens Luban Workshop at Kyrgyz State Technical University

Written by Editors on .

On October 26, 2024, Zhejiang College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower (浙江水利水電學院) and Kyrgyz State Technical University (吉爾吉斯斯坦國立技術大學) officially unveiled the Kyrgyzstan Luban Workshop in Bishkek, a vocational training center offering degree and non-degree instruction in water conservancy, electrical engineering, machinery, and road and bridge engineering. Kyrgyz State Technical University president Mirlan Chynybaev called it the largest Luban Workshop in Central Asia, with 15 laboratories and three “smart classrooms,” and the most important education cooperation project between the two countries. Zhejiang college party secretary Qian Tianguo (錢天國) said the project aimed to build a model of Belt and Road educational cooperation and contribute to a China-Kyrgyzstan “community of shared future” — a reference to Xi Jinping’s key foreign policy concept, and an indication of how China has used the Luban network as a form of public diplomacy. After a second construction phase began in 2025, the workshop trained Kyrgyz personnel in smart manufacturing and hydropower operations and hosted more than 100 visiting government, university, and business delegations from both countries. On June 17, 2025, the People’s Daily devoted a full page to the workshop as part of a China-Central Asia cooperation special report, and China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台), Xinhua, and Kyrgyzstan’s state broadcaster covered it as well, with footage screened at the China-Central Asia Summit. The Luban Workshop model originated from a Tianjin-based vocational education pilot and opened its first overseas site in Thailand in March 2016, before expanding to more than 20 countries across Asia, Europe, and Africa. China’s Ministry of Education oversees the program’s development standards through a dedicated expert committee, and the network has been folded into national vocational education policy initiatives since 2018.