Stronger Media Cooperation – Improving Mutual Understanding

A speech delivered at a dialogue between Chinese and Portuguese media

Wang Xiaohui, executive deputy head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee

Lisbon, November 26, 2018

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

A very good afternoon to you all! It is a pleasure to see so many of you gathered here for this event. Chinese President Xi Jinping will soon be paying a state visit to Portugal, which is expected to usher in a new era in the development of bilateral relations. Taking the theme of Openness, Innovation and Win-Win Cooperation, this dialogue between Chinese and Portuguese media is both timely and bears great significance. On behalf of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council Information Office, I hereby extend my sincerest felicitations to you all.

China and Portugal enjoy a friendly and traditional relationship with a long history of people-to-people exchanges. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1979, our friendly cooperation in such fields as politics, economy, trade, culture, science and technology, and the military has continued to develop. In 2005, China and Portugal announced the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership, setting up a solid foundation for the historic transformation of bilateral ties in broader fields, in a more profound way and at a higher level. At present, China-Portugal relations are at an all-time high, and are both mature and stable, and full of vitality.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the beginning of China's reform and opening-up process. Over the past 40 years, and especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, the CPC has been leading the Chinese people to write an epic chapter in the development of the country and the nation. Great changes have taken place in China, and socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era. From 1978 to 2017, China's average annual GDP growth rate reached 9.5%, raising it up to become the world's second largest economy. China has contributed over 30% to world economic growth since 2012. The country has not only developed its own economy but has benefitted those of many other countries, including Portugal, becoming an important advocate of global opening-up, and acting as a reliable engine for driving global growth. Portugal is ranked fifth in Europe in terms of the amount of Chinese investment that it has attracted. Chinese investment in Portugal has increased rapidly, totaling more than 9 billion euros, which has contributed to the recovery of the Portuguese economy.

Media plays an important role in enhancing friendship and promoting mutual understanding between civilizations. We are pleased to have witnessed in recent years, increasingly closer Sino-Portuguese media exchanges and cooperation, forming a bridge of communication and friendship between the two countries. In 2012, China Radio International started comprehensive cooperation with Lisbon's Iris FM, providing an important channel through which the Portuguese people could learn about China. In Brazil in South America, the residents of Rio de Janeiro and S?o Paulo can listen to Portuguese-language broadcasts from China via local FM radio. In Mozambique in Africa, audiences have also had the opportunity to watch the Chinese TV series "Doudou and Her Mothers-in-Law " dubbed in Portuguese. Last year, the "Belt and Road" Portuguese-language Media Alliance came into being in Aveiro, Portugal. Over the past year, the association has played an important role in promoting exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and Portuguese media. I believe that this dialogue will pave the way for new opportunities for cooperation between Chinese and Portuguese-speaking media. I would like to outline three ways in which this could happen.

First of all, we should share the dream and lay a solid foundation for Sino-Portuguese friendship.

Although China and Portugal have different histories, culture and national circumstances, they both face the same opportunities and challenges, as well as similar historic tasks. The Chinese people are currently marching forward to deliver on the two centenary goals and realize the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation, while the Portuguese people are also working hard to develop its domestic economy and live a happier and better life. Deepening exchanges and communication between media from China and Portugal is vital for laying a solid foundation of public support between the two sides and for boosting bilateral exchanges and cooperation. We hope that media from China and Portugal can cover more news reports relating to one another; tell of one another's achievements in economic and social development and experience relating to governance; and make their voices heard and convey positive energy, so as to boost mutual understanding between the Chinese and Portuguese people. We sincerely hope that media from China and Portugal can fully report the two countries' important measures, the fruitful results they achieve in terms of deepening mutual beneficial cooperation in trade, economy, investment and people-to-people exchanges for win-win development, and also tell the stories of friendly exchanges between the Chinese and Portuguese people well, helping the people of the two sides to be clear about the importance of promoting the China-Portugal comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership to a higher, deeper and broader level from a new starting point.

Secondly, we should express confidence and speak in a firm voice when it comes to major issues.

In the world today, economic globalization is surging forward, but risks and uncertainties are also increasingly emerging. Global economic growth is overshadowed by the specter of protectionism and unilateralism. President Xi Jinping noted that all countries are in the same boat, and that no country can address alone the many challenges facing humanity. Neither can any country afford to retreat into self-isolation. We hope that media from China and Portugal can proactively convey the message of building a community with a shared future for mankind, be determined and confident in cooperation and opening up, jointly cope with the risks and challenges, and coordinate and support one another when it comes to important regional and global issues, allowing their voices to be jointly heard. We hope that media from China and Portugal can encourage support for the joint building of an innovative, inclusive, open world economy, demonstrating the two countries' common determination to safeguard multilateralism and free trade while opposing unilateralism and protectionism, and introducing the correct path of inclusiveness, mutual benefits and win-win cooperation to the world. We sincerely hope that media from both China and Portugal can highlight good stories about international cooperation in relation to the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, which involve progress and achievements made during the process of promoting trade and economic cooperation and synergizing development strategies under the Belt and Road framework. We also hope that media will provide more coverage of the Belt and Road Initiative, through which China shares opportunities and pursues common development with the rest of the world, helping the public to learn about and generate support for international cooperation via the Belt and Road.

Thirdly, we should deepen cooperation to strengthen the capability and influence of media from China and Portugal.

As new technologies including the Internet, mobile applications and artificial intelligence develop rapidly, the way of information dissemination and the pattern of public opinion have both seen profound changes. This means that media from China and Portugal must explore new territory in terms of their development. In recent years, we have made advances in the integration of traditional and new media, building a diversified, integrated, modern communication system. By October this year, the mobile app of the People's Daily had been downloaded 220 million times, while the number accessing Xinhua News Agency apps and China Media Group apps totaled 270 million and 630 million respectively. I've also observed that new media and the Internet have been developing rapidly in Portugal in recent years. We hope that media from China and Portugal can learn from one another's best practice to progress together to upgrade the production process, expand methods of news coverage and promote technical upgrades, so as to enhance the media's transformation and create a more competitive new main-stream media. We also hope that the two sides can expand areas for media cooperation, making it a regular practice and institutionalized requirement particularly in the fields of information sharing, joint interviews and news coverage, as well as content production, so that the media's news coverage capabilities can be improved, and help boost the development of the China-Portugal comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

Ladies, gentlemen and friends,

There is a Portuguese saying: "True friends are forever". We Chinese have a similar maxim: 'Just as distance tests a horse's strength, time reveals a person's heart.' I believe that as long as media from China and Portugal join hands and sincerely work together, strong impetus can be injected into the long-term and healthy development of China-Portugal friendship. The Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and China's State Council Information Office aim to provide more support and create better conditions for exchanges and cooperation between media from China and Portugal. China will host the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing in April next year, and we extend our sincerest welcome to our friends from Portuguese media to pay a visit to China and attend the event.

Thank you all!