CGTN hosts Global Media Summit & VMF 2017

CGTN Global Media Summit & VMF 2017 opens in Hainan, Nov. 28

The China Global Television Network (CGTN) Global Media Summit and the Global Video Media Forum (VMF) 2017 opened on Tuesday in south China's Hainan Province, drawing almost 400 representatives from up to 100 media organizations from 45 countries and regions to discuss topics such as how to accelerate and deepen the integrative development of conventional and emerging media, make full use of new technologies and applications to innovate approaches of media dissemination, and how to deal with the challenges commonly faced by the media around the world.

Co-hosted by CGTN and China Central Television News Content (CCTV Plus), an important component of CGTN and a leading video news agency in China, the event gathered experts from leading media agencies including CGTN, CCTV Plus, Associated Press (AP), Reuters, CNN and Al Jazeera, Russia Today, China Daily, Phoenix Satellite Television, Tableau and NowThisNews to share their insights on the industry's development trends and successful experiences.

Their discussions revolve around the key components of the industry chain such as content production, distribution, realization and user experience, covering a wide range of topics from the reshaping and upgrading of new-type mainstream media to the maintenance of the media's stance and values in the so-called post-truth and Internet era, to the global dissemination during a time of media convergence, the visualization of digital news, the cloud structure platform for content sharing, and using new technologies for promoting the user experience.

"The future of the media industry has always been a subject of debate in China. Some argue that content is the king, others champion technology, and yet others put accessibility above everything else. A precept of ancient Chinese philosophy is that one can only be the king by uniting heaven and earth. I believe that the Chinese character for ‘king’ holds the key as it is composed of four strokes. To my mind, the three horizontal bars represent content, technology and accessibility, which are made a whole by the vertical pillar -- that is integration. In the media today, only integration can be the king,” said CGTN Controller Jiang Heping in his keynote speech.

Launched on Dec. 31, 2016, CGTN is a multi-language and multi-platform media grouping. It has six TV channels, namely CGTN English, CGTN Spanish, CGTN French, CGTN Arabic, CGTN Russian and CGTN Documentary, three broadcast centers in North America, Africa and Europe, CCTV Plus and CGTN Digital.

In his congratulatory letter to CGTN on its launching, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged the network to "consolidate its cultural confidence, uphold the principle that news coverage is its foundation, keep close to the audiences in an all-round fashion, and make use of media convergence" so as to "let the world meet a China that is multi-dimensional and colorful."

With the opening of the Media Convergence Center on Oct. 10, 2017, CGTN formed a converged production system featuring "multi-form collection, common platform sharing, multi-channel and multi-terminal distribution". Under the strategy of maintaining television as its flagship medium while promoting mobile output, CGTN's ability of international media dissemination and influence has constantly grown over the past year. Currently, CGTN's TV channels have realized full broadcasting or broadcasting of part of their programs in 170 countries and regions across the globe, with users of the full-broadcasting channels reaching over 387 million.

CGTN's multi-language new media platforms have been followed by over 87 million active users. By earlier this month, the Facebook account of CGTN English has been followed by 52.69 million users, ranking the first among single accounts for global news media.

In its international news media survey report for the second quarter of 2017, the South Africa-based market research group New World Wealth rated CGTN as the most neutral international news media, overtaking media including BBC and CNN.

CCTV Plus started operating in December 2010 and has provided news of China and international news of a Chinese perspective, as well as quality news footage, live signals and archives which are available to global media organizations and production companies.

The VMF is an annual brand activity created by CCTV Plus in 2011 and remains committed to providing an unparalleled platform for media colleagues from around the world to share their experiences and promote ideas.