The China-Cyprus-Europe media forum convened Tuesday in Nicosia, Cyprus, aiming to foster storytelling exchanges among their news organizations and deepen mutual understanding between China and Europe.
Co-hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Cyprus and China Media Group's Europe bureau, the two-day event gathered over 100 representatives from media, think tanks, academia, governments, and business sectors across China, Cyprus, Italy, Greece, and other European nations.
Serving as a pivotal platform for cross-sector dialogue, the forum focused on enhancing narratives around China-Europe relations.
In a video address, Annita Demetriou, president of the Cypriot House of Representatives, underscored the necessity of collective efforts to combat global challenges such as misinformation. She emphasized the media's vital role in cultivating mutual understanding, uncovering new cooperation opportunities, and building trust between nations.
Throughout the forum, participants had in-depth discussions on media partnership, social responsibility, and the potential of artificial intelligence in journalism. A declaration was also issued, outlining commitments to future cooperation and exchanges between Chinese and European media outlets.
Thanasis Tsokkos, director-general of Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation, described the forum as an invaluable opportunity for dialogue and partnership.
"It's a great opportunity to exchange ideas and thoughts about the media, and to build new bridges between us and relations between our people and our colleagues from all over Europe. This means that we have to continue the dialogue between us and between the two organizations, specifically," he said.
Greek academic Nikos Panagiotou, professor at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, highlighted the core purpose of media cooperation.
"In today's world, we don't need to compete with social media and titles; we need actually to build understanding, to make people understand what is happening and provide meaning. And this is the essence and the base upon which actually I think that the cross collaboration between the Cyprus public news organization and the Chinese TV can be built," said Panayiotou.
Participants at the forum agreed that media cooperation between China and Europe is vital to reducing misunderstandings and enhancing mutual trust, and expressed hope for closer exchanges between Chinese and European news organizations in the years to come.
Media forum in Cyprus calls for deeper China-Europe collaboration, trust-building
