Government officials and representatives of major media organizations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states attended a round table meeting on Wednesday in Astana, Kazakhstan, ahead of the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO.

Hosted by China Media Group (CMG), the meeting was held under the theme of pulling together the media power and carrying forward the Shanghai Spirit. Attendees summarized what China and other SCO members have achieved in media cooperation and sought deeper cooperation for the future.

Shen Haixiong, president of CMG, said mass media organizations should deepen cooperation and jointly promote exchanges and mutual learning between China and other SCO countries by telling stories of people-to-people ties among SCO members and creating a fair, objective and healthy global public opinion ecology.

Shen said CMG is willing to make joint efforts with the mass media outlets of the SCO countries to take this meeting as an opportunity to push the development of the SCO to a new level.

Kanat Iskakov, Kazakh vice minister of culture and information, drew attention to the key role of mass media in strengthening mutual trust, friendship and good neighborliness. He hoped that through this dialogue, mass media organizations of the SCO member states could establish closer cooperative relations.

Andrey Denisov, the first deputy chair of the Russian Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, said the SCO member states should strengthen exchanges and cooperation in various fields and build a more just, reasonable, diversified and inclusive space for international public opinion in the current international environment.

Other representatives of major mass media organizations from the SCO member states also shared their insights to strengthen exchanges and cooperation.

Bolat Nurgaliyev, former SCO Secretary-General, said the mass media outlets of SCO members should create a cultural atmosphere and environment of mutual understanding, mutual respect and mutual appreciation.

According to the former SCO Secretary-General, Vladimir Norov, over 180 events dedicated to various sectors have been held during Kazakhstan's presidency of the SCO, and he suggested that a media union of the SCO countries could be established to strengthen technical cooperation.

At the event, an initiative to deepen pragmatic cooperation between CMG and SCO mass media outlets was launched. According to the initiative, mass media should deepen cooperation, strengthen mutual training and share best practices.