"USilk," a 52-episode documentary series featuring stories along the Belt and Road, will air on Al Jazeera Documentary Channel starting from Feb. 6, according to an announcement at the launching ceremony held in Doha, the capital of Qatar, on Jan. 27.
The series is a co-production by China International Communication Center (CICC) and major media outlets along the Belt and Road. It has been broadcasted in 15 languages in more than 20 countries and regions, reaching an audience of about 500 million from more than 40 countries and regions in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Central Asia, Europe, South America, and Africa.
The program will be aired weekly on Al Jazeera Documentary Channel and is expected to reach Arabic-speaking audiences in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and the U.S.
A memorandum of understanding for deepening cooperation on information sharing and platform building was also signed between CICC and Al Jazeera Media Network at the ceremony, with an aim to jointly promote the cultures and stories along the Belt and Road.
Abdulla Al Najjar, executive director of global brand and communications at Al Jazeera Media Network, said the signing is a mark of strategic cooperation with international media organizations to further develop documentary content. He said he looked forward to opening new horizons for cooperation with Chinese institutions working in the field of media production.
Jing Shuiqing, deputy director of CICC, said the program "USilk" tells the stories of real people and their lives in China. In the future, it will present more fascinating stories of the Belt and Road by exploring the cultural significance of the Silk Road in greater depth. He said the documentary series will build heart-to-heart connections between people from different countries.
Ahmed Mahfouz, managing director of Al Jazeera Documentary Channel, said the documentary series will present the rich culture of China to a wider range of Arabic-speaking audiences, adding that he hopes the two sides would co-produce other documentaries in the future.
