CMG hosts 'African Partners' media exchange event to foster China-Africa cooperation

As the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) approaches, a media exchange event titled "A Civilization Symphony and a Digital Dream-Builder: 'African Partners'" was held in Beijing on Saturday.

The event, hosted by China Media Group (CMG), aims to bolster media cooperation between China and Africa and to promote cultural exchanges and mutual learning in the digital age. The gathering attracted over 200 participants, including representatives from international organizations, media outlets, think tanks and other sectors from China and more than 20 African countries.

Several African leaders, including Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera, and Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan, shared messages via video. They expressed their support for enhanced media exchanges and practical cooperation between China and Africa.

Ugandan President Museveni said that China is an important partner of Africa and expressed his appreciation for the activities organized by CMG. He expressed hope for increased connections between young people from both regions to build stronger future relationships.

Central African Republic President Touadera commended the cultural exchange event organized by CMG, expressing confidence that it would serve as a major platform for cultural dialogue and wishing it success.

Seychelles President Ramkalawan also conveyed his support, emphasizing the value of deepening media exchanges and practical cooperation between the two countries.

China's ongoing comprehensive reforms create new opportunities for strengthening the China-Africa comprehensive strategic partnership, said Shen Haixiong, vice minister of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and President of CMG. He said that CMG aims to bridge cultural exchanges between China and Africa and promotes these narratives globally.

Shen noted that effective China-Africa media partnerships depend on engaging storytelling, close collaboration and innovation. CMG leverages over 320 African cooperation resources to enhance cross-cultural communication and is advancing a "5G+4K and 8K+AI" technology to improve media quality and productivity.

CMG will collaborate closely with its African partners to exchange cultural insights, support modernization and jointly build a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future, Shen added.

The theme of the upcoming 2024 Summit of the FOCAC is "Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future," said Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong, noting that the summit will introduce new initiatives, including enhanced China-Africa media and cultural cooperation.

Chen hopes media from both sides will highlight the deepening China-Africa friendship, mutual benefits and joint modernization efforts. He also called for the coverage of the summit's new ideas and initiatives and emphasized the importance of promoting peace, justice, and shared development.

Politicians from several African countries, including South Africa, the Republic of the Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Egypt, Burundi and Cameroon, sent video messages expressing their hope that African and Chinese media will strengthen cooperation across various fields and work together to share the story of China-Africa development.

The event introduced "Close Friends Across Continents," a CMG-produced documentary showcasing China-Africa achievements in science, technology, economics and cultural exchanges. It will air on CCTV-4 and CGTN's English, Spanish, French, Arabic and Russian channels during the summit, with additional broadcasts in many African countries. Since August 15, the promo has been featured on 1,297 outdoor screens, 19 national TV stations and 13 new media websites, reaching nearly 1.4 billion people across 54 African countries.

In recent years, CMG has been continuously hosting a variety of film and television exhibitions that have been well-received by African audiences. Four Chinese films have already been screened in Egypt and Tanzania, and 10 African films will be shown on university campuses in Beijing, Xi'an and Chengdu.

During the event, CMG established a cooperation mechanism with 11 leading media organizations in East Africa. This mechanism will focus on program sharing, joint interviews and productions, high-quality program exhibitions, annual news releases, think tank collaborations and cultural exchanges.

A consensus document on the media cooperation mechanism was also released at the event. The initiative, launched by CMG and 64 major African media organizations from 25 countries, aims to build a high-quality China-Africa media partnership. It seeks to objectively amplify the voice of the Global South and collaboratively create a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future.