New season of Sino-Russian documentary launched

A second, six-episode season of a documentary series jointly produced by China and Russia was launched in Moscow on Monday at a ceremony at the Chinese embassy.

This Is China season two was produced by China Broad View Cultural Communication Center and Russia's RT television channel.

Wang Xiaohui, executive deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said this year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia. The year also has seen greater development of bilateral political mutual trust, economic cooperation and cultural exchanges under the leadership of the countries' top leaders in the new era, he said.

This Is China season one, broadcast in 2017 as part of the China-Russia Media Exchange Year, received a positive response from audiences, officials said.

Production of season two, encouraged by President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, was a practical way to deepen China-Russia exchanges, Wang said.

Alexey Gromov, first deputy chief of staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia, said a series of activities will be held this year, which is very important for the development of China-Russia relations.

He said ties between the two nations have reached the highest level in history, and media from both countries have begun comprehensive and multichannel communication and cooperation.

Gromov said This Is China is a successful project produced under the framework established during the China-Russia Media Exchange Year. The efforts of journalists and other media workers from the two countries are appreciated, he said.

"President Xi is paying a state visit to Russia this week, and I expect a huge step to be made in Sino-Russian relations under the strategic leadership of the two leaders, as well as a new, meaningful level of bilateral media cooperation," Gromov said.

The RT channel has several projects in the works with Chinese partners, said Margarita Simonyan, the channel's editor-in-chief. She said she feels a strong desire from Chinese media to cooperate with their Russian counterparts.

Simonyan said media from both countries were engaged in active and efficient cooperation during the documentary production.

"Together, we came up with the production plans and discussed topics to jointly bring the world more wonderful Chinese stories," Simonyan said.