Foreign and Military Affairs

News link for China-Arab media urged

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-07 06:53
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BEIJING - The Chinese press and its Arabic counterparts should form a hotline to convey news between themselves rather than rely on Western media for reports on important events or disasters in their regions, a Chinese official said on Thursday.

Guo Xiaoyong, executive deputy director of the China International Publishing Group and a former Arabic-speaking journalist with the Xinhua News Agency, made the remark during a speech at the second China-Arab Press Cooperation Forum, which was held in Manama, Bahrain.

Media organizations in China and the Arab states need to give preference to the information provided by each other in news reporting, which can help developing countries on issues such as human rights and offer alternatives to Western media dominance, Guo said.

Wang Chen, minister of China's State Council Information Office, also invited the Arabic media to visit and cover Expo 2010 Shanghai.

Wang said he hopes Chinese and Arabic media organizations can conduct strategic cooperation to increase political mutual trust and help boost trade between the two sides.

The cooperation should be in line with media development trends and modern telecommunication tools should be used to promote such cooperation, Wang said.

The China-Arab Press Cooperation Forum is co-hosted by the State Council Information Office and the Secretariat of the League of Arab States.

The first forum was held in Beijing in April 2008.

China Daily