Kang Miao, Deputy Director, Xinhua News Agency Fujian Branch, China. Photo: People's Daily

The 12th ASEAN Plus Three Media Cooperation Forum was held in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian Province, on November 4. Co-hosted by the People's Daily and the People's Government of Fujian Province, the forum was held under the theme of "Openness and Cooperation for Shared Development." Kang Miao, Deputy Director of Xinhua News Agency's Fujian Bureau, delivered a keynote speech. The full text of the speech follows:

Distinguished guests and media colleagues, 

Good morning!

It's a great honor to join the 12th ASEAN Plus Three Media Cooperation Forum and gather in this blessed city. As a long-time journalist based in Fujian, I find it highly meaningful to meet with colleagues from ASEAN, Japan, and South Korea right here in the city where I work, to exchange views under the theme "Openness and Cooperation for Shared Development."

Fujian has long been a frontier for exchanges between civilizations and trade, especially with ASEAN, Japan and South Korea. As a key starting point of the ancient Maritime Silk Road, Fujian's ancestors set sail across the oceans to trade, to transmit skills and to spread culture. They complemented each other's needs and deepened mutual understanding among countries in Southeast and Northeast Asia.

They carried out not only tea, porcelain and silk, but also the Eastern wisdom of openness, inclusiveness and harmonious coexistence. So the sea has never been a divider; rather, it is where connection begins, and the media are the watchful sentinels on this sea.

The Xinhua News Agency is China's national news agency and a global news organization, rooted in this vibrant, open land. 

Against the backdrop of deepening economic and trade cooperation, digitalization, and intelligence, we have focused on new avenues like the cross-border digital economy and green transition - from workshops in China and Indonesia to twin parks, and from the front lines of digital trade to smart agriculture. Using professional visual and multilingual media products, we interpret regional cooperation policies and demonstrate their vitality accurately and vividly.

Guided by the goal of promoting mutual learning among civilizations and forging strong bonds among people, we also spotlight warm human moments, grassroots exchanges, culture-tourism integration, and youth engagement. Trade data isn't the only thing that matters. We care about the applause when Min Opera is performed in Indonesia, the cup of jasmine tea shared by young people in our sister cities, and the historical memory of receiving overseas remittance letters from Southeast Asia. These true, vivid stories help lower barriers to cross-cultural understanding, let the idea of friendship and mutual support take root, and build solid public support for regional cooperation.

Today, digital technology is reshaping the media. While regional cooperation opens up new opportunities, the media faces bigger expectations. It is our duty to meet them and live up to our responsibilities. We will tell stories of open and win-win cooperation and share vivid examples using a youth-oriented, digital, and international approach. We will use this approach to highlight regional economic and trade operations.

Building a new communication landscape requires joint forces. I hope colleagues from ASEAN, China, Japan, and South Korea will take this forum as an opportunity to establish regular cooperation mechanisms and jointly foster an objective, fair, open, inclusive, and positive regional media ecosystem.

In closing, may this forum be a complete success. I wish all our guests and colleagues every success in your work, lasting happiness, and good health. 

Thank you!