Documentary marks China-Belgium ties

Gianni Girolami's life and work have been closely linked with China ever since he started to learn Chinese at the University of Ghent in Belgium.

The young Belgian, who speaks fluent Chinese, French, Dutch and English, decided to move to China in 2015 after working for a Chinese-funded company in Belgium for five years. He now works for a logistics company in Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong province.

Known to many by his Chinese name Jie Ming, Girolami met his wife, Hong Yan, a world champion wrestler, in Beijing and now they have a baby.

While Girolami eats grape skin, Hong does not. It is no big deal for them, but they "clashed" on what their baby should do with the grape skin.

Girolami said that it needs compromise from both sides and for both to accept each other's culture. He started to use Douyin, known globally as TikTok, to share such stories.

"We want to be a bridge for the two cultures and bring them closer," he said in Chinese in a micro-documentary made to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Belgium, which falls on Oct 25.

It is one of the six-episode documentaries titled "In Their Eyes 50 Years China-Belgium" jointly presented by China Media Group Europe and International Radio and Television Union, and co-produced by CMG Film, Drama and Documentary Programme Center.

Three young Chinese now living in Belgian cities of Brussels, Liege and Ghent and three young Belgians now living in Chinese cities of Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen tell their individual stories in the episodes.

The documentaries are being aired starting Monday on more than 30 media platforms in China and Belgium, such as CCTV Documentary Channel CCTV 9, CGTN French Channel, CGTN English New Media in China and BX1, RTC Tele Liege and TVCom in Belgium.