Caribbean media houses invited to set up offices in China

…centre of excellence also proposed

CHINA has proposed to build a centre of excellence to train Latin American and Caribbean journalists and has also invited media companies here to set up shop in Beijing or send reporters to operate from out of that country.
These proposals were made when the Chinese leader, President Xi Jinping, addressed the opening of a two-day media leadership summit
being held in Santiago, Chile.
Guyana is being represented at the Summit by Director of GINA, Beverley Alert, Editor- in- Chief of the Guyana Chronicle, Nigel Williams and News Editor of NCN Onicka Jones.
The Chinese president said that his country’s alliance with Latin America and the Caribbean countries was of “strategic” importance even as he
reaffirmed Beijing’s comprehensive strategic partnership with Latin America and the Caribbean to promote the development of its peoples in the current global circumstances.

“Shared aspirations unite us, even if we are far away,” Xi Jinping said.
The summit is being attended by
over 100 representatives of the media from 24 countries. “Media exchange is an important part of China-Latin America-Caribbean relations,” because they can do a great job to give continuity and momentum to the friendship between the two sides,” Xi Ping said.
The Chinese president then proposed three specific areas to promote exchange between the media: first, to support each other to jointly boost their influence in both regions, relying on new technologies and internet to show the reality of China and Latin America and the Caribbean, making clear their positions on such transcendental issues as peace and development and the defence of the common interests of the developing countries.
Here he proposed that Caribbean media houses increase the number of journalists in China.

Xi Jinping also praised the United Nations Economic Commision for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) for playing an important role in boosting cooperation between China and Latin America and the Caribbean. “I hope you can continue to present more fruits and studies based on accumulated experiences to promote the articulation of our development strategies and make continuous new contributions to the development of our ties,” the Chinese head of state said.

For her part ECLAC’s Executive Secretary Alicia Bárcena thanked the President for sharing his vision. “…your presence here reaffirms the visionary proposal China gives to its friendly relationship with Latin America.”
According to her, trade in goods among Latin America and the Caribbean and China has multiplied 22 times since 2000 and peaked in 2013, after which it has experienced two consecutive years of decline. However,she disclosed that between 2013 and 2015 the value of the region’s exports fell 23%, which is explained by the slowdown in China’s growth, which has led to lower demand and sharp declines in the raw materials that make up the bulk of the regional export basket to that market.

Bárcena also noted that China has displaced the European Union in 2014 as the second largest trading partner in the region and looked forward to seeing progress in the Cooperation Plan 2015-2019 approved at the First Ministerial Meeting of the China-CELAC Forum held in Beijing In January 2015, including US$ 500 billion in trade and US$ 250 billion in reciprocal foreign direct investment (FDI) stock.

“These opportunities entail jointly rethinking globalisation to achieve better economic and financial governance, trade multilateralism without protectionism, and greater climate security, peace and stability.” She added, “Establishing innovation as a pillar of development, with the stimulus of science and technology, providing incentives for productive diversification and adding value to exports; promoting an inclusive and sustainable economy, strengthening open regionalism with more trade and investment, with cooperation on matters of energy, natural resources, infrastructure, industry, innovation and connectivity, as well as with the circular economy, accompanied by an environmental big push and low-carbon development; improving the distribution of gains (income and capital); and increasing cooperation and cultural exchange between both sides.”
Also speaking at the event were media leaders from China, Latin America and the Caribbean.

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