An Introduction to the Progress and Future Work Plan of the Belt and Road News Network

(April 25, 2019, Beijing)

Fang Jiangshan

Deputy Editor-in-Chief of People's Daily

I am delighted to take this opportunity to brief you on the progress and the future work plan of the Belt and Road News Network (BRNN).

The Belt and Road News Network First Council Meeting was successfully held at People's Daily on April 23rd, 2019 with the strong support, close cooperation and joint efforts of all parties involved.

Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the meeting. Huang Kunming, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, read the letter and made a speech at the meeting. The convening of the first BRNN council meeting indicates that substantial progress has been made in the construction of the Belt and Road News Network.

At the opening ceremony of the first Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation two years ago, President Xi Jinping put forward the insightful initiative of "building a news alliance." Once this initiative was put forward, it received a positive response from media in various countries, in particular, the relevant media from Belt and Road countries.

After the first Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, People's Daily contacted media agencies of various countries to communicate and exchange views on building a news alliance and extended invitations to those willing to cooperate. So far, 182 media agencies from 86 countries have confirmed their membership in BRNN. The number is likely to increase.

In order to ensure the efficiency of the network, we put forward the proposal of setting up a council of the network, which was widely endorsed. Taking into account factors such as regional representation, international influence and audience coverage, it was agreed that the council would be composed of 40 media agencies from 25 countries. The board of directors shall be headed by the initiator - People's Daily, which shall be responsible for convening the board meeting and work coordination meetings, communicating and coordinating and supervising the implementation of major work items of the network. The secretariat of the network, located in the People's Daily, is responsible for the network's daily operations and the implementation of the council's decisions.

The first council meeting reviewed BRNN’s charter and working guidelines, issued the joint declaration of BRNN’s first council meeting and discussed BRNN’s 2019-2020 work plan. The network’s website and mobile aggregation and distribution platform for news and information were also launched during the meeting.

As an important platform for media cooperation among countries and regions working together on the Belt and Road Initiative, the network has the unique advantage of forging consensus on development and promoting exchanges among countries. In the future, we will work together to create platforms for information sharing, communication and cooperation, and media communication. We will also host the Belt and Road forum on media cooperation, solicit entries for the “Silk Road Award for International Communication,” organize joint cross-border interviews, set up media executive seminars, establish a public manuscript database and a database to realize the development and sharing of news dissemination resources and carry out various forms of dialogue and exchange of information products to promote people exchange and sharing of the technological progress, etc. We also aim to build BRNN into a dynamic mechanism promoting collaborative innovation, sharing of opportunities and win-win cooperation of development by strengthening cooperation and exchange among all parties. We will tell Belt and Road stories well, share interesting Belt and Road voices, establish a positive public communication environment for the joint construction of the Belt and Road and make the Belt and Road cooperation better and more beneficial to the people of countries along the Belt and Road.

The BRNN is a broadly representative, open and pragmatic multilateral news cooperation network and link of all parties involved. It is also a new platform for people-to-people and cultural cooperation as well as a warm family. People's Daily will give full play to its leading and coordinating role, actively build an open and cooperative platform, and serve media and friends of all countries to the best of its ability. We sincerely invite and warmly welcome more media agencies to join the network to share Belt and Road stories about aspirations, successes, happiness and dreams and write a new chapter of media cooperation.

Thank you.