BRNN facilitates media cooperation along Belt and Road

The Belt and Road News Network (BRNN) Second Council Meeting will kick off on the evening of Dec. 19 at the People’s Daily in Beijing.

Representatives of 38 council members of the BRNN from 23 countries will hold an in-depth exchange of views on joint efforts for common development through cooperation.

The BRNN is launched to better tell stories of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and give play to the media’s role in promoting high-quality cooperation under the BRI.

 The BRNN provides a convenient platform for exchanges and cooperation between media from various countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a congratulatory message to the BRNN First Council Meeting, which kicked off on April 23, 2019.

Through the concerted efforts of 40 members of the first BRNN council and all BRNN members over the past three-plus years, the BRNN has made solid progress in enhancing dialogue and communication, carrying out practical cooperation, and promoting people-to-people exchanges and resource sharing. It has become an important platform for cooperation among media outlets from the countries and regions participating in the BRI.

As the BRNN council chair, People’s Daily has played an active role in reporting on the BRI. It has explained the underlying philosophy and new dimensions of the initiative and comprehensively reflected the progress and achievements of the BRI. Other Chinese members of the BRNN council, including Xinhua News Agency, China Media Group and China Daily, have introduced the concept, projects and achievements of jointly building the Belt and Road to the world.

“We regard the BRI as an extension of the ancient Silk Road and a vivid embodiment of China’s efforts to support common development and win-win cooperation among countries,” said Alaa Thabet, editor-in-chief of Egypt’s Al-Ahram newspaper.

Recognizing the significance of the joint pursuit of the BRI and the initiative’s role in driving Egypt’s development, the newspaper has supported the BRI, Thabet said, adding that it will continue to take covering the Belt and Road cooperation as its duty.

The Belarus Segodnya Publishing House has attached great importance to topics such as the BRI, Belarus-China relations and bilateral cooperation, and published regular reports on these topics, which have drawn widespread attention, said Dmitry Zhuk, director and editor-in-chief of the Publishing House.

Members of the BRNN in Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, South America and Oceania are making sure that the concept of the BRI is better understood.

The establishment of the BRNN has created great opportunities for the future development of media, said Pavel Negoitsa, general director of Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, at the BRNN First Council Meeting.

Over the past three-plus years, cooperation has been the keynote of the BRNN. The first BRNN council has performed its basic functions specified in the charter of the BRNN and carried out practical cooperation, offering diverse cooperation opportunities in a wide range of areas.

For example, two short-term media workshops for the BRNN were held in China between September and November 2019. They were attended by nearly 100 senior editors and journalists from 87 media outlets in 46 countries.

With the theme “Embrace Global Development Initiative and Deeper Connectivity,” the 2022 Media Cooperation Forum on Belt and Road, an activity run by the BRNN, was held in Xi’an, capital of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province in August this year. Over 120 Chinese and foreign media representatives from more than 40 countries and organizations participated in the forum initiated by People’s Daily live, on video and through written speeches.

The BRNN’s growing reputation has drawn an increasing number of media outlets. To date, the BRNN has welcomed 218 members, up from 182 when the BRNN First Council Meeting was held.

The BRNN has served as a platform for information sharing thanks to efforts made over the past three-plus years.

The BRNN website and mobile platform for aggregating and distributing news were launched during the BRNN First Council Meeting. BRNN website content is now available in 10 languages - Chinese, English, French, Russian, Arabic, Spanish, Japanese, German, Portuguese, and Korean.

The judging committee meeting of the first Silk Road Global News Awards was held in Beijing on July 20, 2022. “Kazakhstan Belt and Road Initiative: The road to Somewhere” was among the 19 shortlisted works for the first Silk Road Global News Awards. The winner list of the first Silk Road Global News Awards will be announced at the BRNN Second Council Meeting.