On the afternoon of October 11th, the opening ceremony and main forum of Zhejiang Media Cooperation and Communication Forum with International Friendship Cities was kicked off in Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province. The event is sponsored by the Information Office of the People's Government of Zhejiang Province, co-sponsored by Zhejiang Daily Press Group and Zhejiang Radio & TV Group, and hosted by Zhejiang TV Station International Channel.

Around 120 media representatives and senior managers of media think tanks from 67 countries in Asia, Europe, America and Africa attended the opening ceremony and the main forum. The event has also invited top media organizations within Zhejiang Province, media scholars and relevant representatives from all administrative cities of Zhejiang Province. The theme of the forum – Mutual Learning, Cooperation and Communication – represents people’s desires for more sustainable and deeper media cooperation in the face of the dramatically changed global media landscape.

On the main forum, media representatives and senior managers of media think tanks delivered important presentations. All the guests shared the same idea that media organizations from friendship cities should expand mutually beneficial cooperation and push for long-term sound and stable development of media convergence, so that everyone can tell better stories.

When referring to the trend of globalization and the increasing interdependence between countries, Gert Grobler, Senior Diplomat of South Africa and Former Foreign Ambassador emphasized that non-governmental exchanges should be strengthened, and it will help to promote friendly relations and understanding between different cultures and civilizations. As one of China’s economic and cultural hubs, Zhejiang has strong economy and has achieved good social development. There is no doubt that Zhejiang will play a key role in promoting non-governmental cooperation and developing more balanced global partnership.

The majority of guests who have given keynotes on the forum admired the rapid social and economic development of Chinese society, and are very happy with the important role that China has played on the world stage and grateful for the contributions China made to world peace and development.

Sabri Bilal Ahmed, journalist of Pakistan Today, is mesmerized by China’s success in technology, infrastructure, innovation, green development and Information Technology. In his view, China has generously shared its success with fellow countries. And the “Belt and Road Initiative” is one of those steps which reflects caring and sharing for others. He believed that media can play an effective role in the perception management of global citizens. With the presentation of the truth, media can help remove mistrust and suspicion from the minds of the doubtful. That’s why comprehensive cooperation among media outlets of participating countries of the initiative has now become a must. He believed that media cooperation can easily be an effective tool for connection, as it will bring about a common platform to face propaganda campaign against the BRI. Thus, media cooperation can build a relationship of trust and confidence among the peoples along the Belt and Road. What’s more, comprehensive media cooperation will offer opportunities for organizations to benefit from each other in terms of content, technologies and human resources and ultimately help journalists to write and publish reports with deep understating in a more professional and sounder manner.

Guests from Portugal, Japan, Korea and Namibia also gave their keynotes. At the late stage of the main forum, 5 television stations signed a MoU on the global promotion of documentaries including the one called “Liangzhu”.

From October 12 to 14, media veterans were invited to travel across the Zhejiang Province to get a closer look at the rapid development and unique charm of Zhejiang. During the three-day visit, those media experts all gave a thumbs-up for the significant achievements which have been made by Zhejiang Province and were highly impressed by the speed of Zhejiang’s social development. 

Executive Editor: Ke Ye