BRNN shares media’s responsibilities, enhances Silk Road friendship

Photo shows the venue for the Belt and Road News Network (BRNN) Second Council Meeting in Beijing. (China Economic Weekly/Xiao Yi)

The Belt and Road News Network (BRNN) Second Council Meeting was held on Dec. 19 in Beijing. Representatives of 38 council members of the BRNN from 23 countries took part in the meeting either online or offline, discussing ways to give better play to BRNN’s role and better promote cultural exchanges and people-to-people connectivity.

Participants at the meeting said that BRNN members have enhanced people-to-people bonds in countries and regions along the Belt and Road by carrying forward the Silk Road spirit, strengthening information sharing, telling stories about the development that has taken place along the route, enhancing cooperation and friendship, and creating a sound atmosphere for the expression of opinions along the Belt and Road over the past three-plus years.

Tuo Zhen, President of People’s Daily, delivered a report at the meeting. According to Tuo, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the BRNN provides a convenient platform for exchanges and cooperation between media from various countries.

BRNN has become an important platform for cooperation among media outlets from the countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and has achieved remarkable results in cooperation in various areas, Tuo added.

Noting that the BRNN Second Council Meeting marks the BRNN’s entry into a new development stage, Tuo said People’s Daily, as the BRNN council chair, will serve the members and council members of the BRNN and work together with them to make BRNN a media platform that embraces openness and cooperation for mutual benefits.

“We shall remember that the original consideration for establishing the BRNN is to share information, display achievements made by countries and regions along the Belt and Road, and build a news network with strong influence,” said Iqbal Survé, non-executive chairman of South Africa’s Independent Media.

The winners of the first Silk Road Global News Awards (SRGNA) were announced at the meeting, with a total of 19 works winning five categories of awards. “Kazakhstan Belt and Road Initiative: The Road to Somewhere,” won the In-depth Reporting Award of the first Silk Road Global News Awards. Mushahid Hussain Syed, head of Pakistan’s Friends of Silk Road club and chairman of the Pakistan-China Institute, was given the Special Contribution Award.

The Awards is a major project included in the List of Deliverables of the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. A total of 4,485 entries from 80 countries and regions were collected during the entry phase.

Fang Jiangshan, Director of the Judging Committee for the First SRGNA and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of People’s Daily, said the first SRGNA adopts an open and transparent selection process, giving full play to standardization, authority, openness and internationality. Fang added that the first SRGNA will help more media outlets and individuals tell stories of the Silk Road and create a new chapter in Belt and Road media cooperation.

“We are inspired by a Pakistani’s winning of the Special Contribution Award of the first SRGNA,” said Sarmad Ali, President of Pakistan’s Jang Media Group and GEO Television Network. He added that the BRNN has been very effective in promoting exchange and cooperation between news outlets of different countries and is helpful in better building a community with a shared future for mankind.

The BRNN’s growing reputation has drawn an increasing number of media outlets. To date, the BRNN has welcomed 218 members from 101 countries.

Cuba-based news agency Prensa Latina News Agency became a new council member of the BRNN. Luis Gonzalez, President of Prensa Latina, believes that the BRNN Second Council Meeting will bring the BRNN into a new stage of balanced, coordinated and inclusive growth.

Nina Nichiporova, First Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Newspaper Vecherniy Bishkek, a new council member of the BRNN, said the BRNN contributes to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and cultural exchanges and cooperation among countries.

Participants at the meeting said they will deepen friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation and make greater contributions to promote the high-quality development of the BRI under the framework of the BRNN.

Yu Shaoliang, Editor-in-Chief of People’s Daily, summarized the achievements of the BRNN Second Council Meeting, noting that the BRNN will be an advocate of peaceful development, a story-teller of cooperation achievements, and an example of people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

He hoped that all parties concerned will work together to bring about more solid and in-depth new media cooperation and people-to-people and cultural exchanges among the members of the BRNN, and continue to build a closer partnership for Belt and Road media cooperation.