Asian media leaders gathered in the southern Chinese city of Sanya on April 9 to share views on media interconnectivity in building a more open and innovative Asia.
Huang Kunming, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Media Leaders Summit for Asia during the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2018. In his speech, Huang called for openness and innovation to promote prosperity in Asia.
Huang noted that China’s reform and growth has benefited from and contributed to the development of Asia, and China will pursue innovation and share achievements along the road.
An open and innovative Asia, and a prosperous and developing world provide a grand stage for media from all countries to advance together and showcase themselves, he said.
They should play an active role in encouraging and applauding the revitalization of Asia, telling the stories of Asian innovations and the cooperation and win-win relations of the countries, in order to fully play the role of guiding positive opinion, and help build a beautiful world and a beautiful Asia, Huang said.
He noted that President Xi Jinping’s thoughts and visions, such as building a community with a shared future for mankind, offer Chinese wisdom and a Chinese approach to world peace and prosperity in Asia.
“Over the past two decades, almost half of the world’s poor population have managed to escape poverty in Asian-Pacific countries. In the past four decades, more than 680 million Chinese people have been lifted out of poverty, accounting for 70 percent of the global poverty reduction during this period,” said Shafqat Jalil, director-general of Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation.
The Chinese development experience has yielded beneficial lessons, he said, adding that Asia being the most populous region of the world provides ample opportunities for cooperation.
B.R. Deepak, professor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, said learning from the experiences from different civilizations is important.
He said a multilateral learning is crucial, such as the circulation of ideas, innovation, commodity and people. Meanwhile the connectivity has to be inclusive.
“In the circulation, media can play a bigger, better and more positive role,” he said. “We need a mechanism such as the media summit this time to enhance people-to-people bonding to deepen understandings.”
Innovation is the driver for growth, media leaders and experts said.
Phinij Jarusombat, president of the Thai-Chinese Cultural and Relationship Council, said he was delighted to see that Asian media are gradually having the capacity to speak out Asia’s own words on the global stage.
“The summit is a great opportunity to promote interconnectivity between Asian media,” he said. “I look forward to seeing more global media organizations next time.”
Over 300 participants, including cultural scholars and more than 140 leaders of major media organizations from 40 Asian countries, attended the opening ceremony.
（Source: People’s Daily）
