By Lucy Omakpo
The 2024 media cooperation forum on Belt and Road has held in Chengdu, Sichuan province of China with the theme: “Enhancing Media Cooperation for Common Development”
The media forum which took place from August 28 to September 1, drew participants from all over the world and hosted by People’s Daily of China. The high end dialogue is designed to promote cooperation and build connectivity among the global media.
This years forum is of particular significance because it drew delegates from global mainstream media, senior management of enterprises, well-known scholars and high-level officials from Chinese government. They all gathered at the Chengdu Hall of Tianfu International Convention Center to brainstorm on the theme of this year’s forum.
Highlight of the forum was the release of the Media Cooperation Chengdu Initiative to further strengthen policy direction towards greater connectivity.
Below is the communique issued at the end of the section:
1. Since the inception of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), partner countries, by focusing on the main theme of connectivity, have enhanced policy coordination, infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people ties. They have contributed to global connectivity, built platforms for international economic cooperation, and spurred world economic growth.
2. As BRI enters a new stage of high-quality development, the role of media
cooperation in cultural exchange and mutual learning should be further utilized. The media of participating countries should uphold the Silk Road spirit of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit. They should adhere to the principle of planning together, building together and benefiting together; spread fair, objective, and truthful information; avoid bias, fake news, and misinformation; and strive to promote deeper connectivity.
3. Making full use of multilateral cooperation platforms such as the Belt and Road. News Network, the media should further strengthen cooperation, enriching both the content and form of their cooperation, as well as broaden the channels and platforms that host it. They should carry out joint interviews, personnel exchanges, information sharing, program co-production, technical collaboration, and cooperative publicity. They should harness the collective power of the media to effectively tell BRI stories;
stories about common development and mutual benefit; stories about deepening
regional cooperation and improving global governance; stories about facilitating mutual learning among civilizations and increasing people-to-people connectivity.
4. As we build towards BRI’s next golden decade, the media will work together to
pass on and carry forward the spirit of the Silk Road, cement Silk Road friendships, and fulfil the responsibility of contributing to the BRI’s high quality development. The media will help countries around the world to jointly achieve modernization, to build an open, inclusive and interconnected world for common development, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
