Media join forces to shape shared narrative

Dinh Thuy Dung, a bilingual Vietnamese broadcaster, owes her career to the influence of Chinese culture. The young woman, who hails from a small Vietnamese village, said she learned Chinese because of a pop song.

"It was the first time I felt the charm of the Chinese language, and it sparked my desire to learn Chinese," she said on Tuesday while addressing the audience at the South and Southeast Asian Media Network Annual Meeting 2026 in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province.

"After choosing to learn Chinese, I was able to participate in exchange programs and travel. … I became a Vietnamese-Chinese bilingual broadcaster."

At work, Dung found a purpose larger than herself. "I could introduce Vietnam's culture, landscape and people to Chinese audiences," she said. "At the same time, I could bring China's culture and stories back to my Vietnamese friends."

Her career embodies the very cooperation that media professionals from across South and Southeast Asia have gathered at the Kunming meeting to advance.

Representatives of more than 170 media outlets, news organizations and think tanks from the region attended the annual meeting of the network that was launched in 2024.

The network was initiated by the Yunnan International Communication Center for South and Southeast Asia and China Daily Asia Pacific.

Zeng Yan, head of the publicity department of the Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, said that amid accelerating global changes and rising uncertainties, China remains committed to building a community with a shared future for humanity and contributing Chinese wisdom and solutions to address global challenges and advance a more just and reasonable international order.

She highlighted the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping, saying that they provide guidance for responding to global challenges and promoting international cooperation.

Zeng noted that over the past three years, the regional media network had expanded its membership, improved its mechanisms, established a liaison office, released annual work plans and promoted practical cooperation.

She said that Yunnan is closely connected with South and Southeast Asian countries by geography, people-to-people ties and shared cultural links, creating many stories worth telling and sharing.

She called for cooperation in artificial intelligence-assisted news production, multilingual intelligent translation, cross-platform distribution, short-video production and data journalism, so that authentic, diverse and warm regional content could be produced more efficiently and have more precise reach and broader dissemination.

Over 20 pacts signed

More than 20 cooperation agreements were signed during the annual meeting, covering joint production, tourism promotion, academic exchanges and youth programs, with the aim of creating flagship projects with regional identity and international influence.

At the meeting, Zhu Baoxia, deputy publisher of China Daily, underscored the alliance's growth and ambition.

"It has built an important platform for exchanges and cooperation that promotes regional connectivity and mutual learning among civilizations," Zhu said.

She highlighted China Daily's long-standing mission to "bridge China and the world", citing that the "Run with History" series, launched in 2019, has been held in historical cities including Bagan in Myanmar, Ayutthaya in Thailand and Luang Prabang in Laos, attracting more than 13,000 participants.

"Using sports as a bond and culture as a vehicle, we have built a down-to-earth and warm platform for people-to-people friendly exchanges," Zhu said.

She added that guided by the Belt and Road Initiative and China's four global initiatives, connectivity, trade ties and shared interests between China and South and Southeast Asian countries have continued to deepen, creating a path of open, inclusive and mutually beneficial development.

She called on the network members to strengthen cooperation and contribute to regional prosperity.

Htin Linn Aung, Myanmar's information minister, said at the meeting that while technology connects people, it also amplifies shared regional threats.

"Common challenges such as climate change, economic instability, public health hazards and transnational security issues can no longer be addressed by a single country alone," he said.

He emphasized the media's responsibility in the digital age.

"The spread of misinformation and disinformation has the potential to create misunderstandings and undermine trust among nations," he warned.

He called on the media to play a role beyond simply reporting news.

"The media can also serve as the diplomats who strengthen friendship among nations, as the bridges that connect diverse cultures and as the partners that promote mutual understanding among the peoples," he said.