By Wang Fengjuan

Media’s Strong Influence Promotes People-to-People Connectivity

By Wang Fengjuan

Cui Yuying (front row), vice-minister of SCIO, gives a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Forum of Ministers Responsible for Information during the Fifth China-Eurasia Expo.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative cannot proceed smoothly without active participation from people and governments in countries along the route. Equally important is support from media organizations in countries benefiting from the Initiative.

Media organizations play an irreplaceable role in disseminating information, maintaining peace, enhancing friendship and promoting development. In her keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Forum of Ministers Responsible for Information during the Fifth China-Eurasia Expo, Cui Yuying, vice-minister of China’s State Council Information Office (SCIO), expressed hope that participating media outlets from different countries would seize this historic opportunity for media cooperation brought by the Initiative to continue open, sharing and innovative collaboration, promote connectivity in terms of information, technology and personnel and build an “Information Silk Road”based on media cooperation.

Sponsored by the SCIO and co-organized by China International Publishing Group (CIPG) and the Information Office of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Government, the Forum of Ministers Responsible for Information took place Sept. 19 in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang. Nearly 40 information ministers, media leaders and government officials from 14 countries including China, Belarus, Cambodia, Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Myanmar, as well as representatives from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), attended the event.

Providing a Platform for Dialogue

With the theme of “Connectivity: New Opportunities for Media Cooperation”, the forum aimed at indepth discussion on the opportunities and responsibilities media face during the implementation of the Belt and Road

Initiative, as well as consensus-building among related nations’ media organizations in deepening cooperation and playing a contributing role in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.These days, as an important information source and focal point of news topics for the global media community, the Belt and Road Initiative is providing precious historic opportunities for media exchange and cooperation among a large number of countries.

Participating representatives from different media organizations agreed that countries share a common duty to seek peaceful development, while the Belt and Road Initiative provides an important opportunity for countries involved to realize common development. Therefore, enhanced media exchange and cooperation will help to reinforce understanding and friendship among different countries, push forward people-to-people connectivity and encourage countries to develop friendly ties and create an even more beautiful future through joint effort.

This year’s forum was the third such event sponsored by the SCIO. The first two were held in 2011 during the First China-Eurasia Expo and in 2013 during the Third China-Eurasia Expo, respectively.

“The establishment of the Media Communication Alliance along with a series of successful reporting activities, such as a tour of the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the ‘Sharing the Silk Road’, are tangible results of the forum’s first two editions,” Cui said.

Fang Zhenghui, vice president of CIPG, noted that the forum provided an effective platform for exchange and cooperation among Chinese and foreign media outlets, which are expected to play a positive role in enhancing people-to-people connectivity. People-topeople connectivity is a fundamental part of the Belt and Road Initiative, Fang said, and media can make a significant contribution in this area. He pointed out that China Report ASEAN is exemplary in adopting a “1+N” model in which the magazine is primarily published in English while complemented by the languages of select ASEAN countries, and that it should strive to grow into a platform for China’s international communication, bilateral exchange, cultural promotion and links between political and business circles.

The Forum of Ministers Responsible for Information is a major arena established a few years ago by the SCIO for news authorities and media organizations of different countries to enhance exchange and cooperation, in light of the dramatic changes brought by the internet in recent years in terms of media structure, public opinion environment, target audiences and communication technology. It opens a window for the world to understand China and its Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, playing a positive role in boosting mutual trust and understanding among different nations, as well as promoting regional peace and development.

Spreading Voices on Cooperation

The launch of the Belt and Road Initiative allows more opportunities and channels for mainstream media organizations of countries along the route of the Initiative to deepen collaboration with news authorities, tap both governmental and non-governmental resources for the construction of the Belt and Road, inspire new ideas and thoughts and give voice to friendly regional cooperation.

While attending the forum, Khieu Kanharith, Cambodia’s Minister of Information, said that Cambodia-China ties have witnessed profound development over the past several years, particularly exemplified by the increasingly booming exchanges in academia and media between the two countries, and that such activities have made bonds between the Chinese and Cambodian people closer. In addition, constant interactions between television and radio programs on both sides have exerted a positive effect. The forum provided an opportunity to take advantage of these achievements to seek an even more harmonious relationship between Cambodia and China, as well as between Asia and Europe, Khieu said.

“The Belt and Road Initiative is an important project for all of us, enabling us to restore the ancient Silk Road, enhance reciprocal understanding among diverse cultures and customs, promote social living standards and economic development of the people living in the regions and countries along the Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road,” said U Pe Myint, Myanmar’s Minister of Information. “I assume that we need to implement the idea of the Belt and Road Initiative in line with the procedures of discussion, cooperation and shared experience in order to attain reliable and sustainable human resources, technologies and programs to ensure media development and cooperation. This will also help us build a cooperation network of print and broadcast media organizations for enabling different media organizations along the Road to communicate openly and exchange information and thoughts as well.”

According to Lilia Ananich, Belarus’Minister of Information, Belarus was one of the first countries to back the Belt and Road Initiative and remains a reliable partner. The China-Belarus industrial park in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, has emerged as a bright pearl shining along the Silk Road Economic Belt. At present, both countries are making efforts to expand cooperation to a wider scope covering areas of politics, trade, culture and media.

“Ever since the independence of Tajikistan, the Chinese government has rendered selfless assistance and strong support, and the Confucius Institute has become a major platform for educational and cultural exchanges between the two countries,” said Nabi Nabizoda, director of TV-Sinamo, a Tajikistan national TV channel. Along with the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, bilateral cooperation in TV production, media professional training and TV program exchange has increased. In addition, anti-violence awareness and different examples of morality depicted by Chinese TV shows have danced their way into the hearts of younger generations of Tajiks, Nabizoda added.

From Sept. 15-18, foreign delegates joined an investigative tour of Urumqi, Ili and Tacheng, gaining insight into Xinjiang’s ethnic solidarity, economic growth, poverty alleviation, cultural heritage protection and ecological conservation while witnessing the impressive progress and development of the region first-hand.