China-Africa Media Exchanges and Cooperation a Solid Start
By staff writer
China-Africa media cooperation has helped show the world a true picture of China and Africa in the face of some strengthening ties. The latest development realized via a conference on Thursday in Nairobi, saw the participation of leading Chinese and Kenyan media houses including, China's People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency, CCTV, CRI and Kenya's major media such as Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, Nation Media Group, Standard Group, Royal Media Services, Kenya Today and Diplomat East Africa.
Dubed China- Africa Media Conference the agenda was clear: to further boost China-Africa media exchanges and collaboration. Urging media from both China and Africa to further promote cooperation, facilitate mutually beneficial exchanges and enlarge cooperative areas. The seminar was organized by Li Changchun, a member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee's Political Bureau.
Speaking at the China-Africa Media Conference, Li said media from China and Kenya both cherish strong wishes to further develop media and people-to- people exchanges, adding that the traditional friendly China- Africa and China-Kenya relations have created sound bases for closer media cooperation in the future.
He called on media from China and Africa to form direct connection to promote friendship, strengthen cooperation of the two peoples and also in a bid to transfer much more news stories covering development in Africa which shows the latest changes and new images of the continent to Chinese people. Meanwhile, Li also welcomed more African media houses to set up offices in Beijing, with the aim of facilitating their coverage on China.
China, a major developing country, and Africa, the least developed continent in the world, still face prejudice from Western countries, and their images have been distorted by some Western media.
For example, some Western media often accuse China of utilizing its programs and investment in Africa to squeeze energy and raw materials from the underdeveloped continent. They even try to sell a cock-and-bull story by saying China is imposing so-called "neocolonialism" on the African people.
However, the African people have highly applauded China's performance on their continent.
"China-Africa cooperation is characterized by selflessness, equality and efficiency, and Africa welcomes more investments from Chinese enterprises," Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade said this week when meeting a senior Chinese delegation.
Echoing Li's suggestions, Ezekiel Mutua, Director of Information and Public Communication, Ministry of Information and Communications of Kenya, said the conference was evidence to the full upgrading of China-Kenya media cooperation. He said that Kenya boasts the most active group of media in East African region, which offers great potential for further China-Kenya media cooperation.
Mutua pointed out that China-Kenya media cooperation has a long history which was spearheaded by China's Xinhua News Agency. For the past few years, he said that Kenyan media have been receiving timely, comprehensive and objective news stories on international news events from Xinhua News Agency, adding that Kenyan media is keen on forming much closer cooperation with China in the future.
Over the years, the Chinese and African media have energetically boosted their exchanges and cooperation.
Major Chinese media have significantly increased their African subscribers, while more African media have assigned resident correspondents to Beijing.
The Journalistic Seminar of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, which attracted media officials and journalists from 27 African countries, was held in Beijing in July 2009 to boost bilateral media cooperation.
Three months later after that, the eye-catching World Media Summit took place in Beijing. The Chinese and African media actively promoted exchanges and cooperation through that platform.
China's media have made great efforts to give objective coverage of Africa to the Chinese people and the world outside the continent, and vice versa.
"The news coverage of Africa by Chinese media deserves praise. Though they are much younger in terms of the time they have spent in Africa compared to their Western counterparts, they have done well, with balanced, objective and fair reporting," said Joseph Olewe Owiti, president of Kenya News Agency.
Moreover, Chinese and African media have supported each other by expressing similar views on a variety of major international issues, such as the U.S.-led Iraq War.
After China-Africa Media Conference, Li also held meeting with Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, during which the two sides exchanged ideas on promotion of bilateral relations in various fields.
Li concluded his visit to Kenya on Thursday and headed to Mozambique to continue his five-nation trip which also takes him to Armenia, Romania, and Slovenia.