By Yawar Abbas
KUNMING, China, Sept 18: President of People’s Daily, Yu Shaoliang, on Wednesday called on global media to more widely promote the core principles, depth, and tangible achievements of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), stressing the need to strengthen international recognition of its values and foster emotional identification with the initiative.
Addressing participants at the 2025 Media Cooperation Forum on Belt and Road, held in Kunming, southwest China’s Yunnan Province, Yu said media organizations bear a shared responsibility in advancing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation by building consensus, reinforcing trust, and highlighting people-centered development outcomes.
“This year, we came together to explore ways to deepen exchanges and cooperation and to better understand the role of media in promoting mutual learning among civilizations,” Yu said, noting that the forum was jointly hosted by People’s Daily, the Communist Party of China Yunnan Provincial Committee, and the People’s Government of Yunnan Province.
Calling on journalists and media practitioners to stay true to the founding purpose of cooperation, Yu urged proactive efforts to ensure the steady and sustained advancement of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. “By working together, we can help pave a road of prosperity that enhances connectivity and delivers benefits to the whole world,” he said.
He emphasized that media should actively fulfill their responsibility in information dissemination, trust-building, and consensus formation. According to Yu, media platforms can support governments and peoples of different countries in identifying areas of shared interest and common goals, and in pooling collective wisdom and strength to advance the Belt and Road vision.
Yu said practical cooperation should remain at the heart of BRI storytelling. He called for leveraging media strengths in content development and expanding cooperation in communication by focusing on both flagship projects and small-scale yet impactful livelihood initiatives. “Through these stories, we can vividly demonstrate how the BRI has brought real benefits to partner countries,” he added.
He further stressed the importance of showcasing the concrete achievements of Belt and Road cooperation, including economic transformation and improvements in people’s lives across partner countries and regions. Such narratives, he said, can contribute to deeper practical cooperation in various fields and help advance shared prosperity.
Highlighting the cultural dimension of the BRI, Yu said people-to-people and cultural exchanges should be further strengthened to “sing the song of friendship.” He urged media to explore the rich cultural connotations of the initiative and to present touching stories of mutual assistance and enduring friendship forged through Belt and Road cooperation.
Yu also called for the establishment and effective use of multi-level, wide-ranging platforms and cooperation mechanisms to organize exchange activities and sustain people-to-people interactions. These efforts, he noted, would help build broad public support for high-quality Belt and Road cooperation while enabling diverse civilizations to learn from one another and thrive together.
The forum brought together more than 200 representatives from 87 countries, international and regional organizations, and 165 media outlets and institutions, reflecting strong global interest in Belt and Road cooperation and media collaboration.
The 2025 Media Cooperation Forum on Belt and Road was jointly hosted by People’s Daily, the Communist Party of China Yunnan Provincial Committee, and the People’s Government of Yunnan Province, under the theme “Shared Media Responsibility for Exchanges and Mutual Learning among Civilizations.”