33 African journalists arrive China for training

Thirty-three journalists and information officers from 13 English-speaking African countries arrived Beijing last week on a two-week seminar sponsored by the government of China.

The seminar began on August 2, 2016 and participants are drawn from Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria, Sudan, South Sudan, Malawi, Botswana, Kenya, South Africa, Seychelles, Zambia, Uganda and Rwanda.

The Human Resource Development Cooperation, in the Framework of China’s Foreign Aid, is organizing the program with support by China’s Ministry of Commerce. It is part of PRC’s continued efforts in the people-to-people contacts under the China-Africa relations.

Speaking at the start of the seminar, the Vice President of China International Publishing Group (CIPG) Mr. Wang Gangyi asserted that China-Africa relationship remains the most fruitful relationship globally, because it is built on mutual respect and cooperation.

Wang said the relationship has over the years gained momentum and made great impact in the development of Africa.

Wang, who has been a journalist since 1981, pointed out that through togetherness, China and Africa would have influence to make positive changes in global governance.

“China and Africa entered into the spotlight at the same time in world’s economy and politics, and so we share lots of things in common,” said the media expert.

According to him, China and Africa, at most times, are portrayed by western media as the environments that only represent diseases, natural disaster, conflicts and other negative characteristics, and as such, it is now time that the two stand together to change the negative perceptions.

“Only very few western media can mention the positives of African countries.We need to exchange facts of what is going on. We need to come to our own conclusion based on our findings. Like China, Africa is very diverse culturally, politically, economically and that is contrary to what is being said about us,” Wang stressed.

Wang said Chinese and Africans need confidence in building their own countries, and the media needs to play a very significant role like the Chinese media did in China’s development process. As media people, we should bear in mind that we need to help in the development process of our countries, he said.

One of the facilitators is Professor Wang Yiwei, the Director of Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University of China (RUC).

In his remarks, Prof. Wang said China’s Belt and Road initiative is a typical ideology of the country’s reform strategy for inclusive development.

Under this strategy, Prof. Wang said China believes that industrialization should not only be meant for certain countries or regions, but must be extended across to other parts of the globe with Africa being no exception.

“China believes in open-reform. Our model is economic development first, and that is contrary to the western model, which speaks about political development and governance issue first,” Prof. Wang noted.

The Belt and Road Policy is about telecommunications, internet, road and railway constructions among others for everybody, he said. This, Prof. Wang said, is China’s dream. Like China, he said other developing countries can also ‘make a break’ in the world’s economy through the proper management of resources.

As part of the Chinese cultural exchange and experience, participants have visited the China International Publishing Group (CIPG), the Great Wall and are expected to visit Wuhan City in Hubei Province, on Tuesday, August 9, 2016. They are also expected to visit other Chinese media houses and industries including People’s Daily.

Three Liberian journalists, participating in the seminar have commended China for affording them the opportunity to acquiring such a knowledge that will make positive impacts on their media institutions and Liberia as a whole. They include: Emmanuel Weedee-Conway of the Heritage Newspaper, Varney Diggs of the Renaissance Communications Incorporated (RCI) and Alfred Sirleaf of the Daily Talk.

The seminar is latest in series of China’s activities for media training and exchange programs under the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). Organizers say similar programs have been held for Francophone African countries and will continue to ensure the realization of Chinese and African dreams.

Currently, 28 journalists from 27 African countries (Anglophone and Francophone) are on media training and cultural exchange program hosted by the China Africa Press Center (CAPC) in Beijing. Sponsored by the China Public Diplomacy Association (CPDA), the program is conducted annually, with the 2016 Edition being the third and biggest group.

The China’s media approach is seen as the road-map for media empowerment and contribution to growth and development in Africa.

In the past few years China has rapidly become an important player in the media sector in many African countries. First, its economic success and the impressive growth of media outlets and users within China have quietly promoted an example of how the media can be deployed within the larger political and economic strategies of developing states, moving beyond the democratization paradigm promoted in the West. It has shown that heavy investments in media and information and communication technologies can go hand-in-hand.