Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, November 7th Summary｜From personal experience to understanding: International media figures talk about the real China
Xinhua News Agency reporters Liu Xi, Li Yan, Wang Chendi
With profound cultural heritage, developed infrastructure, orderly urban governance, and accelerated technological innovation...this is the China in the eyes of participants of the 7th World Media Summit. All parties look forward to using the summit as a platform to eliminate cognitive biases, promote practical cooperation, and help global audiences understand a true, three-dimensional and comprehensive China.
Experience China and feel the changes in China
Dejan Yazvič, editor-in-chief of the Federal News Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has visited China several times. He said: "China has undergone earth-shaking changes, and its economic and technological progress can now be seen everywhere. I am honored to witness China's great changes."
For Merel Mulindabigwe, CEO of Rwanda’s Time News Network, who has also visited China many times, China’s level of infrastructure construction and humanistic development is amazing. "In recent years, China's image in international media has been more associated with technology, electronic products and innovation."
This year's World Media Summit has a rich agenda, including an opening ceremony, a high-end dialogue on international mainstream media cooperation, plenary meetings, sub-forums, technology exhibitions, photo exhibitions and "Axis Night" cultural activities. Some participants also visited Beijing’s Imperial Ancestral Temple, Temple of Heaven Park, Robot World, Zhongguancun Exhibition Center and other places to experience the real China firsthand.
On the 5th, at the Energy, Computing Power, and Intelligent Media Forum of the 7th World Media Summit, Aminat Namza, Chairman of the Maldives Public Service Media, lamented that China is far-sighted in the development of artificial intelligence. China has opened the door to development for countries around the world, especially countries in the global South. This summit allows her to witness and experience it with her own eyes, and she will take back what she sees and hears in China.
According to Sumeyla Taimur, CEO of Turkish News Network, China is far more than just a manufacturing power. "When we visited China last time, we visited hospitals and some large technology companies, and saw humanoid robots, self-driving cars, etc. These scenes exceeded my expectations."
Understand China and show the true panorama
Per Markus Andersson, CEO of Sweden's Evon Media Group, said there is a discrepancy between the European media's reports on China and the real situation. "In order to bridge the cognitive bias, European media need to go to China more for interviews and reports and talk to ordinary people," Andersson said. "One trip to China is better than reading hundreds of news items."
"China has a very rich development experience. Only limited reports or one-sided perspectives cannot recognize the full picture of China," Najah Misavi, president of Tunisia's African News Agency, emphasized. "Through on-the-spot reporting, personal witnessing, and diversified collection of information, the international public can build a more comprehensive and balanced understanding of China's image."
In order to better understand China, many overseas media are already taking action.
Grasse Cordero, general manager of the Ecuadorian Public Communications Company, said that its subsidiary "The Telegraph" sent reporters to China for five months and launched special reports on China to showcase China's social life, cultural features, development opportunities and scientific and technological progress to the Ecuadorian audience. "More and more Ecuadorians are beginning to understand China from multiple perspectives such as food, culture and technology, which helps break past stereotypes."
Vulgar Aliyev, chairman of the board of directors of the Azerbaijan National News Agency, believes that China’s scientific and technological achievements, digital economic development and large-scale infrastructure projects are particularly attractive to the country’s audience. "We are committed to showing China from different angles, and this summit is an excellent opportunity to showcase China's long history, rich culture and modern life to the world."
Let’s go hand in hand and tell each other’s stories
At present, artificial intelligence has brought new communication topics and provided new possibilities for telling the story of China and the world. All parties expect the summit to build consensus, not only make good use of advanced technology to expand the boundaries of communication, but also uphold professional ethics to safeguard news authenticity, and promote people-to-people bonds across the world with more objective and fair reports.
Eduardo Valdivia Zambrana, CEO of the Bolivian Multimedia Group, believes that artificial intelligence technology has created a historic opportunity for optimizing information dissemination, helping to more accurately grasp audience interests and improve the screening mechanism of international news content. At the same time, cultural and professional exchanges should be used to reduce bias and respect differences between different cultures.
According to Yasilu Bandara Ranaraja, founder of Sri Lanka’s “Belt and Road” Information Network, the most important message conveyed by the World Media Summit is “cooperation and understanding.” "We need to allow journalists from various cultural backgrounds to come here to exchange ideas and share experiences. I hope more people will find that China's reporting can be more diverse."
Yelena Zolobova, editor-in-chief of Kyrgyzstan Slovakia, called her first trip to China a "journey of discovery." "I hope to learn from this summit how Chinese counterparts respond to challenges and how to better apply artificial intelligence and modern multimedia technology."
From experiencing China to understanding China, from exchanges and dialogues to joint actions, media professionals from many countries took the summit as a starting point to transform consensus into cooperation and let the world see a more real China. As Jasper Skir, co-owner of Denmark's Copenhagen Post, said, he looks forward to telling the Nordic people about his personal experience in China and sharing his "Chinese story" after participating in this World Media Summit. (over)
