…Cao says stronger media ties key to mutual learning, evolution of Chinese and African civilisations
Basil Peta
BEIJING – CHINA and Africa have pledged to deepen media cooperation as an important vehicle for promoting mutual understanding, cultural exchanges and the shared development of Chinese and African civilisations.
Addressing the 7th Forum on China-Africa Media Cooperation in Beijing recently, Cao Shumin, Deputy Head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Minister of China’s National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), emphasised the importance of closer media ties in advancing exchanges and mutual learning between the two sides.
The forum, held from 19 – 21 August 2026 under the theme “Share Development Opportunities, Shape the Audio-Visual Future,” brought Chinese and African media representatives together to explore new areas of cooperation as rapid technological changes, particularly artificial intelligence and digital media, transform the global communications industry.
Ms Cao said media had an important role to play in strengthening the long-standing relationship between China and Africa and promoting greater understanding between their peoples.
Her remarks placed media cooperation within the broader relationship between China and Africa, in which cultural and people-to-people exchanges have increasingly accompanied growing political, economic and development cooperation.
The forum ultimately adopted a joint declaration aimed at further strengthening cooperation between Chinese and African media organisations.
Cooperation dating back to 2012
The Forum on China-Africa Media Cooperation was established in 2012, when its inaugural meeting was held in Beijing.
The first forum, sponsored by China’s then State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, brought together government officials and media organisations from China and 42 African countries, alongside representatives of institutions including the African Union Commission and African Union of Broadcasting.
The initiative was conceived as a platform through which Chinese and African media could deepen dialogue, promote mutual understanding and strengthen practical cooperation.
It has since developed into an established mechanism for cooperation encompassing broadcasting, content production, technological development, professional training and exchanges between Chinese and African journalists and media organisations.
At its launch in 2012, discussions centred on the theme “Exchange, Cooperation and Development”, with particular emphasis on the role media could play in improving understanding between China and Africa and supporting the wider relationship between the two sides.
The forum subsequently became an important component of the broader China-Africa cooperation architecture.
Successive meetings have focused on policy dialogue, technological development, personnel training, content sharing and collaboration between broadcasting organisations.
By the fourth forum in Beijing in 2018, about 400 government officials and heads of media organisations from 44 African countries were participating, while new cooperation agreements were being concluded between Chinese and African institutions.
From broadcasting to digital media
The scope of cooperation has also evolved significantly since 2012.
What began largely around conventional radio and television cooperation has expanded into digital broadcasting, online content, co-production, professional exchanges and new technologies.
Under the wider Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) framework, China and African countries have previously committed themselves to establishing a China-Africa media cooperation network, expanding exchanges between journalists, supporting training and capacity building, and promoting greater movement of correspondents between Chinese and African media houses.
Cooperation has also extended to technical support for the digitisation of African radio and television services and joint production and exchange of films, documentaries and television programmes.
The fifth Forum on China-Africa Media Cooperation in 2022, marking the initiative’s 10th anniversary, placed particular emphasis on digital transformation.
That meeting, held under the theme “New Vision, New Development and New Cooperation,” explored media development policy, content innovation, new technology and digital convergence.
It also produced initiatives aimed at expanding programme co-broadcasting, documentary production, youth exchanges and new-media cooperation.
New technological era
The seventh forum came at a time when the global media industry is undergoing another profound transformation, driven by artificial intelligence, social media, streaming platforms and changing patterns of news consumption.
These developments have created opportunities for Chinese and African media organisations to share technological expertise, jointly develop content and reach audiences through platforms that did not exist when the cooperation forum was established 14 years ago.
But the changing environment has also presented challenges for traditional media organisations, including declining revenues, misinformation and disinformation, and the need to maintain credible journalism amid increasingly fragmented information ecosystems.
The Beijing gathering therefore provided an opportunity for media leaders and policymakers to consider how China and Africa could expand cooperation while adapting to the rapidly changing audio-visual landscape.
The forum’s emphasis on sharing development opportunities and shaping the future of audio-visual media reflected the growing importance attached to technological innovation in the relationship.
For Africa, cooperation has included training opportunities for media professionals and support for broadcasting infrastructure and digital transformation.
For China, closer engagement with African media has provided an avenue for increasing understanding of the country among African audiences and strengthening people-to-people relations alongside its expanding economic engagement with the continent.
The relationship has grown substantially since the relatively modest beginnings of the first forum in Beijing in 2012.
Fourteen years later, the seventh forum underscored a determination by both sides to take that relationship into a new technological era, while maintaining the original objective of using media as a bridge between Chinese and African societies.
Ms Cao’s message was that media organisations should not merely report on the growing China-Africa relationship from the sidelines.
They should themselves become important participants in strengthening dialogue, promoting mutual learning and helping Chinese and African peoples better understand each other’s histories, development experiences and cultures.
The challenge after Beijing will be translating those commitments into deeper practical cooperation between media institutions across the two regions.
Ms Chao also spoke of the need to leverage the media for economic development with media outlets telling compelling stories of the Chinese and African civilisations.
“China and Africa should deepen media cooperation for enhanced development, telling compelling stories of our civilisations and strengthen people to people cooperation through content sharing…,” she said.
Meanwhile, Africa Media Holdings (Lesotho), the publishers of the Lesotho Times, the Sunday Express and Mohale FM, represented by the group’s CEO, Basil Peta, signed an agreement with the People’s Republic of China’s National Radio and Television Administration, represented by its Director-General of international Cooperation, Ms Shou Jihong, for the sharing of news and information between the two entities.
