Karamay, Xinjiang, China, 25 July 2023 (Global Times)

The first ‘Hello, Silk Road’ International Conference on Internet Communication was held on July 23 in Karamay, Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Over 200 guests, including experts and scholars from more than 20 countries, Chinese and foreign journalists, and online influencers gathered together to envision future cooperation between China and countries along the Belt and Road in the field of international communication.

Wang Jianxin, Director, Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Committee in Xinjiang invited Chinese and foreign journalists and online influencers to visit Xinjiang, discover a beautiful Xinjiang and tell stories of people-to-people connectivity along the Silk Road well.

Mederbek Shermetaliev, Head of the Kabar News Agency of Kyrgyzstan, said Central Asian countries enjoy a bright prospect of development thanks to BRI cooperation. The media should extensively convey information about the aims and objectives of building high-level strategic partnerships between China and Central Asian countries to the general public in a way which is easy to understand.

“We need to stay focused and engage in in-depth exchanges to promote cooperation and win-win results,” Argentine Ambassador to China Sabino Vaca Narvaja said in a video speech.

Chen Kai, Mayor of Karamay, noted that the city will contribute to the realization of the dream of integration of diverse cultures in the world, the dream of connecting the world and making progress together under the BRI, and the great dream of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

During a roundtable discussion on international communication & value shaping and cultural envoys & common prosperity, the guests shared their views on international communication and other topics.

Zhang Weiwei, Director, China Institute of Fudan University, pointed out that compared to traditional media, the threshold of participating in international communication has been lowered today and thanks to cultural diversity, good stories are told everywhere.

“I hope that one day, all fabricated reports on China and Xinjiang can be forcefully refuted,” said Fernando Munoz Bernal, an online influencer from Colombia.

The first ‘Hello, Silk Road’ International Conference on Internet Communication was co-hosted by the information office of the government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the government of Karamay and Global Times Online.

The event was supported by the Special Fund for Positive Online Communication of the China Internet Development Foundation.