By KZL
Representatives from the six Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) member countries, including Myanmar, attended the 2023 Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Media Summit and Workshop from 27 June to 4 July 2023 in three major cities in China, aiming for a better future plus innovative media.
China’s media sector is booming. Myanmar also has kinship relations with China, so we should have frequent media exchanges with China. The Myanmar media representatives also witnessed the digital media development and expertise of mainland China during the LMC tour.
We have seen the good use of the media sector and the promotion of public interests in China and the Chinese government’s dedication to the people during the trip to the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Media Conference and related workshops, which were organized by the People’s Daily of China.
The media representatives observed that the People’s Daily and Yunnan Daily have strong reputations in China and that they are working hard to inform the people of mainland China’s complete and accurate news both online and as hand-held newspapers in real-time.
The People’s Daily is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, releasing updated and effective daily news in Chinese and English versions. It is the largest and most influential newspaper in China and was ranked among the world’s top 10 newspapers in 1992 by UNESCO.
The People’s Daily is also responsible for the publication of the nationalistic tabloid Global Times.
The newspaper team launched a commercial software service called People’s Proofreader that provides outsourced content censorship in 2022.
The People’s Daily in recent years has been expanding on overseas social media platforms, occupying millions of followers on its Facebook page and its accounts on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube channels. The People’s Daily also maintains agreements with foreign newspapers to republish its content.
The People’s Daily publishes 20 pages on weekdays and eight pages on weekends and holidays, all in colour consisting of important news, comments, theories, weeklies and supplements. In 2023, the daily circulation of the People’s Daily reached 3.52 million, according to the statistics of the newspaper team.
It has become a new mainstream media group with more than 10 media outlets including printed newspapers, websites, applications, social media accounts and digital screens. People’s Daily Online (People.cn) is one of the world’s largest comprehensive online media. The www.cpcnews. cn (cpc.people.com.cn), run by People’s Daily Online, has become the official website for introducing and delivering information, theories and policies.
The user activity of the People’s Daily Chinese App takes the lead among mainstream media applications. Both the Weibo account and WeChat account of the People’s Daily are ranking first among counterparts, and the Douyin account attracts the largest number of followers on the platform.
People’s Daily English language App is one of the leading mainstream media outlets in China. In addition, “Renminhao”, the new media hub, as well as the National Party Media Information Hub (www.hubpd.com) provides news for many mainstream media outlets, party and government agencies, colleges and universities and high-quality owned media. The electronic People’s Daily on digital screens in buildings and streets serves as an important integrated medium delivering information to the masses.
People’s Daily takes on responsibilities for operating the Belt and Road News Network (BRNN) Secretariat, organizing Silk Road Global News Awards, pioneering custom-tailored news services, and establishing content cooperation with mainstream media from more than 80 countries.
Media personnel also visited the Communication University of China in Beijing on 28 June 2023 and had a dialogue and discussion with experts on media convergence.
The Communication University, located in the eastern part of Beijing near the ancient canal, occupying 463,700 square metres of land, is specializing in cultivating talented people with comprehensive ability to work in the field of media.
The China Media Museum is situated in the basement of the library of the university, providing a general overview of the development of the media industry in China including transmission, broadcasting, television, filming, and media exchanges with foreign countries by showcasing old recorders, gramophones, music boxes, cameras, film projectors, black and white TVs, typewriters and wireless installations.
Next, journalists visited the School of Journalism of Yunnan University on 3 July 2023. The school was founded in 2014 and joined hands with China Radio International to set up the South Asia & Southeast Asia International Communication School in 2016.
The school attempts to boost ties with colleges and universities in South and Southeast Asia. It also expects to organize diversified activities, including students’ joint training, news workers’ training and production and awards for documentaries and microfilms, based on the school’s powerful faculty and Yunnan’s rich and colourful environment and human resources.
The Yunnan University is welcoming students from all over the world, according to the statement of the university.
Likewise, journalists had a chance to observe Yunnan Daily, an organ of the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of China, founded on 4 March 1950 after meeting with media experts of Yunnan Daily Press Group in Kunming on 3 July 2023.
Yunnan Daily Network, based in Kunming is an online newspaper that provides the latest news about politics, health, education, sports, and current affairs.
Founded in 2012, Yunnan Gateway is part of Mekong News Network, Yunnan International Communication Centre for South and Southeast Asia. As a professional news web portal, it is sponsored by the State Council Information Office of the PRC, owned by the Yunnan Government Information Office and run by Yunnan Daily Press Group.
The news stories are available in seven languages including Chinese, English, Thai, Myanmar, Lao, Cambodian and Vietnamese and were born to be China’s sole news website for international communication in the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation. The Yunnan Daily offer the latest news updates on China and Yunnan, covering politics, business, culture, travel and more.
Yunnan Gateway has formed a news release system that is not only multi-lingual but also multi-channel, spreading information and the most updated news in words, pictures, videos, magazines and newspapers. By joining hands with the four monthlies of Mekong (Thai), Champa (Lao), Khmer (Cambodian), and Mingala (Myanmar), Yunnan Daily rolled out their digital and audio versions. Yunnan Gateway also has a presence on Facebook and Twitter, in the names of Amazing Yunnan (English), Mekong (Thai), Champa (Lao), Khmer (Cambodian), and Mingala (Myanmar).
Over the years, the Yunnan Daily Press Group has been making more and more international exchanges including the “China-Myanmar Media Spring Festival Party” in Myanmar to mark the Pauk-Phaw Relations.
China’s modern and innovative media can catch up with everything happening in the world, so Myanmar needs to be well aware of that fact and try to emulate it.
More media cooperation between the two countries should be done. Journalists should also regularly attend Mainland Chinese media events and regularly exchange media and cultural information.
