Wednesday 17 / September / 2025
Kunming: With the participation of more than 200 representatives from 165 media institutions, representing 87 countries and regional organisations; the Belt and Road Media Cooperation Forum 2025 opened in Kunming, Southwest China’s Yunnan Province kicked off on Tuesday.
Muscat Media Group was represented by Ahmed Essa Al Zedjali, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the group and Ali bin Hamad Al Rahbi, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the group.
Such a large a participation from around the world reflected the growing international importance of this event, which was held under the theme (sharing media responsibility and enhancing cultural exchange), with a joint initiative from the People’s Daily Newspaper, the Provincial Committee of the Party of Yunnan Province and the Government of Yunnan Province.
This forum was jointly organised by the People’s Daily Newspaper, The Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and the Yunnan Provincial Government.
The forum was held under the theme: ‘Together to assume the media responsibility and boost the cultural exchange’.
The programme of the forum included activities comprising the inaugural session, the main forum, the dialogue on media cooperation within the framework of the “Belt and Road Initiative”, in addition to several sub-forums, and the award ceremony of the Second Silk Road International Media Award and a symposium allocated to media cooperation among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, Japan, and South Korea (10+3).
The participants made field trips to Yunnan Province and several other Chinese provinces to conduct interviews and make joint visits.
It is worth mentioning that the “Belt and Road Media Cooperation Forum” kicked off for the first time in 2014 and has so far held nine successful sessions, which saw the participation of more than 1,000 media representatives from 100 countries and regions , worldwide, which made the form a pivotal platform supportive to media cooperation, enhancing international understanding, and driving the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative of Chinese President, Xi Jinping.
The participants in the forum agreed that since Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, the joint efforts within its framework have achieved fruitful results and the initiative has become a popular international public product as well as an international platform for cooperation.
President Xi Jinping recently proposed at Shanghai Cooperation Organization Plus Summit a global governance initiative, which would contribute to building a more just and equitable global governance system by offering Chinese wisdom and solutions.
This proposed initiative would also open up new and greater horizons for high-quality development in the joint building process for the Belt and Road.
The participants also stressed the need to deepen cooperation among mass media in the various countries, to be good practitioners and promoters of the Silk Road spirit, and actively disseminate the concept of civilization based on equality, mutual learning, dialogue, and integration and to be good reporters of achievements, to continue to provide in-depth coverage of the real experiences of Belt and Road construction, to mobilise the positive energy of cooperation and win-win outcomes; be good participants and promoters of mutual learning among civilizations, and use high-quality media work to enhance understanding, break down barriers, and make joint efforts to build a solid foundation for a community with a shared future for mankind.
The opening ceremony included the main forum, the Belt and Road Media Cooperation Dialogue Meeting, and several sub- forums besides the giving away of the second Silk Road International Media Awards and a symposium on media cooperation with ASEAN, South Korea, and Japan.
Thereafter, the guests from local and foreign media taking part in the forum conducted joint interviews in several provinces and cities, including Yunnan.
