Hainan Opens Middle East Media Center
“During the ceremony, Hainan Broadcasting Group (HBG), the provincial-level radio and television conglomerate that along with the Hainan International Media Center (HIMC) forms two of the province’s three primary external propaganda outlets, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China Arab TV (中阿卫视). The partnership will focus on programming about Hainan’s free trade port ‘institutional innovation,’ industry openness and trade facilitation, as well as cooperation between Hainan and the UAE.”
“Though formally referred to as a ‘media center,’ HIMC is Hainan province’s answer to Xi Jinping’s call for the nationwide creation of what are known as ‘international communication centers,’ or ICCs. These centers have proliferated across China since 2018 as part of a broader program under Xi intended to modernize the Party-led global propaganda system. The initiative gained further momentum in the wake of Xi’s May 31, 2021 call at a Politburo study session to revolutionize Party-state communication with the goal of making China ‘credible, lovable and respected’ (可信 | 可爱 | 可敬). At the Third Plenum in July last year, he again urged what state media described as ‘important deployments’ to ‘construct a more effective international communication system’ (构建更有效力的国际传播体系).”
Source: China Media Project