Since I’ve been in the CIPCC programme, I’ve covered parts of the Two Sessions, several press briefings, including 2 that were off the record and not to be reported, witnessed a historic signing between China and Honduras and participated in about a dozen National Conditions Lecture and Journalism Training sessions. The latter are lectures to introduce, edify and clarify China’s modernisation strategy from China’s point of view and underscore the importance of the media in this strategy.
At the end of April, we visited People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), providing CCP policies and viewpoints in multiple languages through its People’s Daily Online platform. From its founding in 1948 in Hebei to its offices relocated to Beijing in 1949, the People’s Daily has been under the direct control of the CCP’s top leadership. Cui Shixin, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, welcomed our groups. Our tour covered the New Media Centre and Exhibition Zone before we participated in a meeting at the conference room on the 30th floor of the New Media Tower.
Welcome in Jintai Garden on the compound of People’s Daily. Photo: Cui Xiaoyi
We took a group photo in Jintai Garden on the People’s Daily compound before heading into the building. We were introduced to the workings of various departments: International Cooperation Division of External Relations Department (the Belt and Road News Network, international exchanges and cooperation); International News Department (international news coverage and overseas branches); Overseas Chinese Department (People’s Daily Overseas Edition) and the People’s Daily English app. People’s Daily also publishes the Global Times, and we were introduced to news coverage by the English edition.
Inside People’s Daily. Photo: CIPCC
We were impressed by the set-up of the workspaces, the technology and equipment available to produce content, the overall ambience at the media centre, and muttered comparisons of facilities at home.
People’s Daily (China) Chairs the BRNN Council, and the BRNN Secretariat invited us to contact our news organisations to join the Belt and Road News Network (BRNN) to maintain a strong international cooperation and collaboration network. Their website lists Grenada, but there is no indication of which media houses subscribe to the BRNN.