Daily Times

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. So far, China has signed more than 200 cooperation documents on the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” with 152 countries and 32 international organizations. Over the past ten years, central state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have actively integrated into the overall situation of China’s all-around opening up to the globe. They are important participants of international communication as well as an important driving force for the diversification of international communication subjects.

On June 28, a roundtable talk on “How to better play the role of central enterprises in international communication” was held in Beijing. Experts and scholars, representatives of overseas projects of central enterprises, and media members discussed how to help central enterprises improve their international communication capabilities and better tell stories about the new Silk Road.

H.E. Hussam Al Husseini, Jordanian Ambassador to China, delivered a speech via video and congratulated the holding of the roundtable. In his speech summarizing the relations between Jordan and China, he said that the two countries share a long history of civil exchanges and the development of friendly relations is outstanding. Under the framework of the “Belt and Road”, the two countries have carried out cooperation in various fields, including but not limited to infrastructure, economic and trade investment, science, technology, education and culture. With the deepening of cooperation between the two sides, new areas of cooperation will be opened up.

The process of central SOEs telling a story is actually a process of further clarification of the theoretical mechanism of Chinese modernization.

Fan Jianping, president of China Radio International Online, CMG, said in his speech that over the past ten years, China has worked with all relevant parties to uphold the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, adhered to the concept of openness, greenness, and integrity, and strived to achieve high standards, sustainability, and benefit for the people. Solid and fruitful achievements have been achieved. The joint construction of BRI has become a popular international public product and international cooperation platform. Whether it is a representative of a central SOE, an expert, a scholar, or a media reporter, everyone is the witness, narrator and teller of the story of the joint construction of BRI.

This round table talk set up three-panel sessions: “Participating in the 10 years of Belt and Road: “Representatives from China’s central state-owned enterprises tell the Chinese story of ‘Extensive consultation and Joint contribution'”; “Witnessing the 10 years of Belt and Road: Has the Chinese story of ‘Common prosperity and Shared benefits’ been well accepted by the local people of BRI member countries?”; and “Recounting the 10 years of Belt and Road: How could media and the central SOEs jointly promote the Chinese story of ‘Harmony and Win-Win’ through global communication?” Representatives from China Railway Construction Corporation(International)Ltd., China Southern Power Grid Company Limited, China Railway Group Limited., China First Highway Engineering Co., Ltd., China State Construction Engineering Corporation (Middle East)(L.L.C), and China Railway Signal&Communication Co., Ltd. shared their experience of global image building, and successful cases of BRI projects’ international communication. The guests present also delivered keynote speeches and had heated discussions on related topics, and together explored creative ways to tell Chinese stories about BRI. Wang Yiwei, a professor from the School of International Relations at the Renmin University of China, believes that the process of central SOEs telling a story is actually a process of further clarifying the theoretical mechanism of Chinese modernization. “Clarify the responsibilities and roles of central enterprises in the construction of the “Belt and Road”, so that they shall not be afraid to compete with Western companies, and only by walking with like-minded friends can they go far and steadily.”

Ding Xiaoxing, director of the Eurasian Institute of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, shared his views on how central enterprises can better tell the story of the “Belt and Road” in Central Asia. He said that it is necessary to talk about the history of friendly exchanges between China and Central Asia, letting countries along the “Belt and Road” understand China’s achievements in reform and opening up and its independent foreign policy of peace. He also talked about the development path and achievements of Central Asian countries in the past 30 years and the story of equal interaction, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation between China and Central Asia. Josef Gregory Mahoney, a professor from East China Normal University, believes that a comprehensive collective brand strategy and communication plan should be constructed to convey positive information. As a state-owned enterprise, it needs to consider its own all-round operation strategy, and more importantly, it must actively promote the Chinese story in countries along the “Belt and Road” and establish a good image. “When you become a part of the Chinese story, the Chinese story is your story.”

Yasir Habib Khan, director of the Pakistan Institute of International Relations and Media Research and a senior journalist, said that in addition to traditional media, online media should be given more space to play. Central enterprises can work hand in hand with online media to disseminate a series of success stories achieved by central enterprises in countries along the “Belt and Road”.

In addition, Naseem Khan Achakza, Advisor to Speaker Balochistan Assembly and Executive Director of Policy Think Tank in Pakistan; Fatima Kukeyeva, Professor ofAl-Farabi Kazakh National University; Aleksei Savitskii, Head of the Representative Office of Sputnik in China; KubilayÇelik, Beijing Branch reporter of the Turkish Aydinlik Newspaper; Sami Aljabry, host and reporter of Iraqi State TV; Celia, Guatemalan vlogger and Spanish teacher of Wuhan University and Gao Fei, Colombian commentator and vlogger, also made wonderful speeches at the meeting.

The writer is a senior Journalist. He is also President of Institute of International Relations and Media Research (IIRMR).”