Xinhua, AFP agree to further enhance cooperation

China's Xinhua News Agency and Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Thursday agreed to further enhance cooperation in areas including video and new media.

Cai Mingzhao (R), President of China's Xinhua News Agency, meets with Agence France-Presse (AFP) Chairman and CEO Fabrice Fries at the Xinhua headquarters in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 13, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

The agreement came as Xinhua President Cai Mingzhao met with AFP Chairman and CEO Fabrice Fries at Xinhua's headquarters in Beijing.

Hailing the sound cooperation between Xinhua and AFP in areas of news and photo exchanges in the past six decades since the two agencies signed cooperation deals, Cai said he hopes Fries' visit will help lift the Xinhua-AFP relationship to a new level.

Cai briefed the guest on Xinhua's recent development in the fields of media convergence and AI application, expressing the hope that the two agencies can expand cooperation in areas such as video and new media to jointly face the challenges brought by media reform.

Fries, who is visiting Xinhua for the first time since he took office in April, said AFP and Xinhua have maintained a long-term and stable cooperation.

AFP looks forward to expanding cooperation with Xinhua from photo to video and other areas to further promote bilateral relations, he said.

Fries watched presentations of Xinhua's new media products, including the Smart Content Management Platform, Live Broadcast Platform, Media Brain and Artificial Intelligence (AI) news anchor, and visited workshops of Xinhua's website Xinhuanet.