Curley made the remarks at a ceremony marking the opening of a new bureau in Beijing to integrate news gathering and reporting across all media platforms.

He said strengthening cooperation with Chinese media organizations, especially Xinhua News Agency, is a major strategic measure of the AP in developing the Chinese market.

Nothing that this year marks 35 years of cooperation between the AP and Xinhua, he expressed belief that the two world-class news agencies face brighter prospects of cooperation and development in the digital media era.

Lu Wei, vice president of Xinhua, said Xinhua and the AP shares a long history of cooperation. As the news agency of the host country of the 2008 Olympic Games, Xinhua will provide the best possible help to foreign news organizations, including the AP.

"This new, integrated bureau is the latest symbol of the AP's long commitment to covering China, which goes back more than a century," said Curley.

The new bureau, located in a modern office building in the Central Business District of Beijing, unites news, photos, television and multimedia in an integrated newsroom and is equipped with technology that allows journalists to provide news in all formats, from newspaper text to multimedia productions.

It includes positions for more than 40 journalists and support staff, as well as a television studio and control room, positions for live stand-ups, a client editing suite and a sophisticated Data and Main Control rooms.