President congratulates media group

Letter hails China Daily's 'important role' over past four decades as bridge to world

President Xi Jinping has called on China Daily to make new contributions to promoting exchanges and communication between China and the world as the newspaper approaches the 40th anniversary of its founding on June 1.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, urged the media group on Thursday, in a congratulatory letter, to further present "a true, multidimensional and panoramic view of China".

Recalling the past 40 years, Xi hailed China Daily as having played "an important role" in telling the country's stories well and making the nation's voice heard.

When stating his hopes for China Daily, Xi underlined its duty as a bridge between China and the outside world and called for a further buildup of its all-media communication framework.

The goals outlined by Xi in his letter include having an ever-growing influence on the world, achieving greater storytelling regarding China's development philosophy, path and achievements, and giving a boost to the country's improved interactions with the rest of the world.

China Daily, founded in 1981, is the country's first national English-language newspaper with a global circulation.

The past 40 years have seen it developing into a globalized, multilanguage, all-media flagship combining newspapers, websites and apps, and it now serves more than 350 million readers all over the world via various print and digital platforms.

Media executives, staffers and leading scholars have hailed Xi's letter as a fresh, inspiring guide at a time when the country's media workers strive to make their reporting and the nation's pursuit of peaceful development better heard by print and online readers worldwide.

Zhou Shuchun, publisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily, said Xi's letter marks "a historic moment and a highlight" in the media group's history, inspires and motivates all staff members, and demonstrates the great emphasis placed on international communication and reporting for the outside world.

"The letter makes clear China Daily's mission and tasks as well as the goals for improving its international communication capacity in the new era," he said.

"China Daily will fully, tangibly translate into reality Xi's instructions, work with a greater sense of responsibility and strive to break new ground in its capacity building and global operations," Zhou added.

Liao Xiangzhong, Party secretary and president of Communication University of China in Beijing, said, "Xi's letter charts the course for the capacity buildup of all the Chinese media serving subscribers overseas by outlining their missions, how they will shape a new landscape for communication and what kind of message they should deliver, as well as how to present China's image."

China Daily serves as a window of the nation to the world, and it "has made key contributions to the country's storytelling and image building in the past four decades", he said.

Liao, a professor and PhD mentor, added that his university, which has educated generations of the country's outstanding media workers, is ready to join hands with China Daily to honor Xi's instructions and further boost the nation's media influence worldwide.

Gao Anming, vice-president and editor-in-chief of China International Publishing Group, said Xi's letter "sets clear requirements" for the nation's international communication missions.

"In the face of the Chinese nation's great rejuvenation, the world's vast changes unseen in a century and China being highly integrated with the world, it is of unprecedented importance and urgency to step up China's communication with the world," Gao said.

As China Daily has become a well-known media group with global influence, Gao said he hopes it "will not forget its original aspirations, bear in mind its mission, keep pace with the times, innovate and develop" and "better spread Chinese ideas, values and culture".

Ruan Zongze, executive vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies, said China Daily is "a key, reliable history witness and storyteller of the country's reform and opening-up as well as its interactions with the world".

The media group "now shoulders an even greater, challenging task of helping shape an enabling environment for the country that is building its new development pattern", and "it could make foreign readers better understand the nation's role as an opportunity rather than a threat to them", said Ruan, who said he is "a veteran subscriber of the newspaper".

"The nation's rejuvenation featuring its peaceful development is one of the most exciting stories of the times, and China Daily could further explain the win-win nature of China's interactions with the world," he added.

Ke Rongyi, director of China Daily's New Media Department, said Xi's letter "sets a greater requirement" for the media group's future performance, since it serves as an outstanding information provider for researchers and observers overseas.

China Daily's social media outlets are an emerging tool and platform bridging the nation and the world, and "these days, real-time feedback from hundreds of millions of netizens from overseas is available at any time", he said.

"They recognize China's development, love Chinese culture, and express their yearning for China," Ke said, adding that he and his colleagues will embrace the world and help online subscribers gain a greater perception of the vibrant nation.

Andrew Moody, senior correspondent of China Daily and recipient of the China Friendship Award in 2019, said he is "deeply honored that President Xi has recognized the contribution China Daily has made to telling China's story to the world".

The media group has "built a major domestic and international audience across a wide variety of media platforms as it has covered China's extraordinary journey" over the past four decades, he said.

Moody noted that Xi said the celebration should be seen as a "new starting point".

"As China continues to embark on its new era, set to be one of the most exciting in the nation's history, we at China Daily must continue to rise to the challenge and ensure our China coverage is second to none," he added.