- Under BRNN, 180 media outlets from 86 countries signed up agreements; 40 media teams attended; Jang group represented Pakistani media
BEIJING –The first council meeting of Belt and Road News Network (BRNN) for boosting cooperation and exchanges among BRI countries was held here on Tuesday.
Under the BRNN, more than 180 media outlets from 86 countries sign up agreements of cooperation. A total of 40 influential media outlets from 25 countries present in council meeting. The BRNN eyes to expand greater BRI cooperation opportunities and people-to-people exchanges, and is expected to be an information expressway to further boost implementation of the initiative.
The council meeting was chaired by member of Political Bureau, member of the secretariat and head of the publicity department, Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Mr Huang Kunming.
Just ahead of the council meeting, President Xi Jinping of China also issued a felictation message for the event, asking BRNN to build a news alliance for the Belt Road Initiative (BRI) to boost people-to-people connectivity.
Xi said that even though the BRI was proposed by China, the opportunities and outcomes from it are shared with the world.
Xi’s said in the letter that the BRI countries needed to advocate peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit, and strive to build the initiative into a road heading to peace, prosperity, openness, green development, innovation and civilization.
It’s exciting to see the media’s active and constructive role in weaving a network of BRI partners and BRNN offers a convenient platform for communication and cooperation among the media, Xi said.
Xi also said he hopes to see all council members enhance their engagement and work more to facilitate policy consultation, trade promotion, infrastructure connectivity, financial cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.
The council members are likely to tell the stories about the BRI in a way that could shape healthy public opinion and promote the initiative to yield more substantial results for the people living in the countries along the Belt and Road, the Chinese President said.
Xi, also the general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, stressed in the letter that even though the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was proposed by China, the opportunities and outcomes from it are shared with the world.
The BRI countries need to advocate peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit, and strive to build the initiative into a road heading to peace, prosperity, openness, green development, innovation and civilization, Xi said in the letter.
It’s exciting to see the media’s active and constructive role in weaving a network of BRI partners and BRNN offers a convenient platform for communication and cooperation among the media, he said.
Xi also said he hopes to see all council members enhance their engagement and work more to facilitate policy consultation, trade promotion, infrastructure connectivity, financial cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.
The council members are expected to tell the stories about the BRI in a way that could shape healthy public opinion and promote the initiative to yield more substantial results for the people living in the countries along the Belt and Road, Xi said.
Meanwhile, President of Jang Media Group and Geo Television Network Mr. Sarmad Ali said the most important connectivity is equal to people connectivity, and the people to people connectivity becomes meaningless if there is no media to media connectivity.
He said the Belt, One Road initiative is a great undertaking, which requires dedicated efforts and a coach and let us pursue this initiative step by step and deliver outcome one by one. By group so we will bring true benefit to both the world and to all our people.
“We need to understand is that any development is meaningless. All belts and corridors, do not just mean Financial Corporation, but it means collaboration in education, in health and culture, art, literature and sports,” he added.
He said China Pakistan economic corridor is not a debt trap and the CPEC loan is only $5.9 billion which is hardly 6 percent of Pakistan total external debt of $99 billion.
Media is the most powerful entity on earth and we need to strengthen our media connectivity in order to counter the negatives by focusing only positives as BRI is opening an era of prosperity and economic development, he mentioned.
“We control the minds of the masses. We mold perception and create opinions. We have ability to shape the beliefs and perception of common people and make perceptions into reality and to turn reality into perception,” he concluded.
