Beijing, September 9 -- On September 21, a year ago, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, president of the state, and chairman of the Central Military Commission, sent a letter congratulating the 9th anniversary of the founding of the China News Service, emphasizing the need to innovate the international communication discourse system, accelerate integrated development, improve international communication capabilities, and enhance the affinity and effectiveness of reporting. Over the past year, the changes in the world are still accelerating and evolving, China's governance has anchored a new course, and international communication is facing new situations and new characteristics, undertaking new tasks and new missions.
On September 9, a seminar on "Innovative International Communication, Telling China's Stories" hosted by China News Service and undertaken by China News Network was held in Beijing. People from government departments, domestic and foreign media, and university think tanks gathered together to solve the problem of international communication theory and practice innovation.
On September 9, the seminar on "Innovative International Communication and Telling China's Story" was held in Beijing. Photo by Li Peiyun
Challenges and Opportunities:
How to do a good job in international communication in the new era?
As the organizer, Chen Junjun, president of China News Service, said in his speech that the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has opened a new journey of comprehensively promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with Chinese-style modernization, and in the new historical orientation and era coordinates, international communication work is facing many new challenges and shouldering more important new missions. He said that international communication in the new era should explore the narrative of civilization and broaden the field of international communication; Adhere to the integration of China and foreign countries and enhance the effectiveness of international communication; Make friends all over the world and unite international communication forces.
At the seminar, the relevant person in charge of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Bureau of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee said that at present, the international situation is turbulent and full of challenges, the "pain points" encountered by international communication still exist, and the international public opinion environment facing it is still grim. To further improve international communication capabilities, further promote exchanges between Chinese and foreign civilizations and people-to-people bonds, and take the times as a picture scroll to write Chinese stories; Take the world as a stage to show good concentric circle stories; Take culture as the main axis and tell the story of mutual learning between civilizations.
The relevant responsible comrade of the Network Communication Bureau of the Cyberspace Administration of the Central Committee said that at present, the changes in the world, the times, and history are being carried out in an unprecedented way, and the international communication work of the Internet is not only ushering in valuable opportunities, but also facing complex situations and arduous challenges. To do a good job in international communication of the Internet, it is necessary to highlight the core of China's spirit, explore innovation in discourse expression, promote the expansion of communication channels, and strengthen the empowerment of technology application.
Game and Reinvention:
How to adapt to the great changes in international public opinion?
At present, the changes in the pattern of the international public opinion field, the changes in discourse, and the changes in attack and defense are evolving in depth, and in the face of the new situation and new characteristics of international communication, it is more necessary to accurately identify changes, respond scientifically, and take the initiative to change.
According to Li Fang, deputy editor-in-chief of the overseas edition of People's Daily, international communication in the new era is facing new laws, new challenges and new situations, including the digitization of international communication, audience diversification, increased interaction demand, enhanced confrontation of false information, increasingly prominent importance of international cooperation, and higher requirements for technological innovation. She believes that it is necessary to clarify the systematic, complex and practical nature of international communication, establish a comprehensive information collection and analysis system, actively participate in international media cooperation, international cultural exchanges and international conferences, and respond to the dynamic changes of international communication in a timely and flexible manner.
"It is necessary to correctly view the 'times and trends', with the continuous improvement of comprehensive national strength and international status, the international community has paid unprecedented attention to China, and for international communication work, the pressure is not small, but there are more opportunities." Professor Wang Zhi, vice president of Minzu University of China, believes that with the in-depth integration of China and the world, in the international public opinion field, the United States and the West have become more and more concrete in setting issues against China, penetrating from the political field to the economic and trade, culture, science and technology, climate, ethnicity, religion and other fields. In the new era, accurate and effective international communication channels require a refined strategy of "one country, one policy" and a customized strategy of "one problem, one policy".
Cheng Manli, Dean of the Institute of International Communication of Peking University, believes that international communication is not only a kind of information dissemination activities that cross national boundaries, but also part of international politics and international public opinion struggle. She said that at present, the world's political and economic pattern is undergoing profound changes: emerging countries are rising, the game of great powers is intensifying, and the wave of anti-globalization is rising... This has brought about changes in international relations and the pattern of international public opinion, and made international communication take on new characteristics. For example, emerging countries rise in international communication, the competition for discourse power has become the focus of international competition, the coordination and linkage of communication subjects has formed a strong public opinion, and the development of new media has accelerated the change of public opinion pattern.
Dialogue and mutual learning:
Tell the Chinese story well, where to solve the problem?
With the profound changes in the pattern of international public opinion, and the new stage of international communication with the Internet as the main platform, it has become particularly urgent to adapt to the great changes and tell Chinese stories and global stories well.
"We often say that if the occasion is not right, communication may not be effective. What kind of positive scenario should be based on dialogue among civilizations is very important for international communication efforts. Zhou Qingan, dean of the School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University, believes that effective dialogue between civilizations must strive to build a common historical scene, a common development scene, and a risk and challenge scene. In his view, dialogue among civilizations can have an impact, but there should be no conflict, differences rather than gaps, and a pioneer rather than an advanced.
Jiang Fei, Dean of the School of International Journalism and Communication of Beijing University of Foreign Chinese, believes that when international communication is deep, refined and difficult, the international communication of lifestyle aesthetics may be a breakthrough countermeasure. He believes that the aesthetics of lifestyle can magnify the beauty that ordinary people simply see with individual eyes into the aesthetics of group lifestyle. In international communication driven by lifestyle aesthetics, the feelings, perceptions and appearances of foreign audiences can be reconstructed, and then the cognition, attitudes and behaviors of groups can be changed.
Li Qin, director of the National Communication Strategy Research Center of Chinese Minmin University, believes that today, the dependence between countries around the world has deepened, and the contradictions are also deepening, and in the historical context of duality, coupled with the huge uncertainty brought about by digital intelligence, it has promoted the transformation of the entire international communication narrative paradigm. The narrative subject has changed from the state and mainstream media to the state, media, individuals and AI, the narrative logic has changed from a clash of civilizations to mutual learning among civilizations, and the narrative object has changed from internal and external differences to internal and external integration.
Breaking the wall and innovating:
How can the effectiveness of international communication be improved?
To innovate the international communication discourse system and improve the effectiveness of international communication, it is also necessary to constantly sum up experience, update concepts, solve problems, master the laws of international communication, improve the strategy of struggle and the art of communication.
"When we carry out international communication around a theme, we first need to clarify the 'why' and what the purpose is, and constantly ask the 'why' to find the ultimate goal." Fan Jianping, president of China Central Radio and Television International Online, believes that to improve the effectiveness of international communication, it is necessary to take a comprehensive policy in the whole process, and the most important thing is to start with the end, reverse the selection and measures of each link of the whole process, and constantly summarize the communication effect and continue to iterate the communication strategy.
Zheng Huawei, president of the China News Comics Research Association, said that in international communication, comics have advantages in language, communication and creation. How to use comics to do a good job in international communication and tell Chinese stories well? Zheng Huawei believes that it is necessary to stand firm in his position, show the responsibility of a big country, strengthen the "four self-confidences", and lead international public opinion; innovation in content and form; Innovate communication forms, carry out all-media, matrix communication; Innovative creative methods, you can fight alone or in a team.
International media producer Justyna Szpakowska shared that she has been in contact with Chinese culture for more than ten years, and there are so many Chinese friends, which are actually based on communication between people. In her view, Chinese culture "going out" should improve cross-cultural knowledge and literacy; "Going out" should also "walk in"; Enhance the sense of humanity and strengthen the dissemination of lifestyles; Chinese brands going overseas as a medium for international communication; Understand the target audience and cultural context; Let more people participate in telling China's story well.
The seminar was chaired by Zhang Mingxin, editor-in-chief of China News Service. At the meeting, a number of international dignitaries and experts explained their views on telling China's story well through video. On the same day, the China News Service International Communication Laboratory was officially established, which aims to bring together the latest research results and the latest technology applications in the field of global communication through the integration of students and media, innovation and collaboration, track new trends in the field of international communication, promote cutting-edge research and specific practices of international communication in the all-media era, and provide technology, talents and platform support for improving the efficiency of international communication and telling Chinese stories well. (End)