When nearly 120 journalists from more than 90 countries in the Global South gathered in Beijing in May 2026 under two distinct Chinese government-backed media exchange programmes, the events represented much more than professional development.
The programmes reflect China’s growing determination to shape global narratives by investing in one of the world’s most influential professions, journalism.
For decades, the United States and Europe have largely dominated the global information space through international broadcasters, news agencies, journalism fellowships, educational exchanges, grants, and public diplomacy initiatives. Today, however, the People’s Republic of China is steadily building its own international communication architecture, particularly across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East; the regions collectively referred to as the Global South.
The strategy extends beyond state media or official diplomacy. It increasingly relies on engaging foreign journalists, inviting them to China, exposing them to the country’s governance model, economic transformation, technological achievements, and cultural heritage, and encouraging long-term professional relationships.
Two programmes held in Beijing in May 2026: The China International Press Communication Centre (CIPCC) fellowship and a media seminar organised by the China International Communications Group (CICG). These programmes illustrate how journalism has become an important component of Beijing’s expanding soft power strategy.
Although administered by different institutions, both initiatives pursue a common objective: strengthening China’s engagement with journalists from developing countries while presenting China’s story directly to those responsible for informing billions of readers, viewers, and listeners around the world.
Their timing also reflects a changing global order in which influence is increasingly measured not only by raw military strength or imperialistic capitalism, but by agenda setting: the ability to shape ideas, perceptions, and public opinion.
Beijing’s media diplomatic power play
China’s engagement with foreign journalists is not entirely new. The China International Communications Group (CICG) traces its roots to 1949, shortly after the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Today, it operates under the Central Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of China as one of the country’s principal international communication agencies.
Its work spans publishing, multilingual translation, international broadcasting, research, cultural exchanges, and professional training. Through its Institute of International Studies and Advanced Training, CICG regularly organises seminars for journalists, academics, diplomats, and communication professionals from developing countries.
The China International Press Communication Centre (CIPCC) is a much newer initiative. Established in 2014 by the China Public Diplomacy Association under the guidance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was created specifically to strengthen media cooperation between China and the rest of the world through long-term journalist exchange programmes.
While the two organisations operate independently and under different parent institutions, they complement one another within China’s broader international communication strategy. The CICG focuses on international publishing, communication, and media training, while the CIPCC concentrates on immersive journalism exchanges and public diplomacy. Together, they form part of Beijing’s growing effort to expand its influence through communication rather than confrontation.
May 2026: China welcomes the Global South’s Mouthpieces
In May this year, the 2026 China International Press Communication Centre officially opened at the School of Journalism and Communication, Renmin University of China, in Beijing.
The programme brought together 98 journalists from 90 countries across Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East for a three-month exchange programme that will run until August.
Organised by the China Public Diplomacy Association under the guidance of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the fellowship combines academic lectures, practical newsroom attachments, policy discussions and reporting tours across 23 provinces and regions.
Participants study China’s governance system, economic reforms, diplomacy, science, technology, environmental policies, culture, and foreign relations before undertaking internships with major Chinese media organisations.
No holds barred: The Chinese government lets it all out.
Addressing participants during the opening ceremony, China’s Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hong Lei, described the gathering as “a vivid example of Global South solidarity, cooperation and working hand in hand.”
He noted that since its establishment in 2014, the programme has enabled participating journalists to produce thousands of reports that have helped international audiences better understand China’s development and modernisation.
Hong Lei also highlighted China’s economic achievements, including a gross domestic product exceeding 140 trillion-yuan, accounting for approximately 17 per cent of the global economy and contributing nearly 30 per cent of global economic growth.
He further cited the country’s elimination of absolute poverty, improvements in healthcare and social welfare, increasing life expectancy, and leadership in renewable energy as examples of China’s development model.
The programme also coincided with the first year of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, which outlines Beijing’s long-term economic and social development strategy.
Also speaking during the programme, Professor Ma Huaide, President of Renmin University of China, told participants that the rapid evolution of digital technology and geopolitical competition had made responsible journalism more important than ever.
“More than ever before, we need truthful, in-depth and responsible documentation and expression,” he said.
Meanwhile, Tong Xiaoling, Vice-President of the China Public Diplomacy Association, explained that the three-month programme combines classroom instruction with field reporting, allowing participants to observe China’s development first-hand rather than relying solely on secondary information.
Specific conversation on China-Nigeria relations
In May 2026, Beijing also hosted another media engagement program through the China International Communications Group. The seminar brought together more than 20 Nigerian journalists and media aides, focusing specifically on China-Nigeria cooperation, international communication, and development.
Opening the programme, Li Hengtian, Deputy Director of the Education and Training Centre of CICG, said that journalists remain essential to building mutual understanding between nations. He described the media as “the stone arches that build the bridge of understanding and the clear breeze that dispels the mist of prejudice.”
Quoting Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and her famous warning about “the danger of a single story,” Hengtian urged journalists to present more diverse narratives capable of deepening understanding between China and Nigeria. His remarks reflected a central element of China’s communication strategy.
Chinese officials have consistently argued that global narratives remain disproportionately shaped by Western media organisations and that developing countries deserve broader representation in international discourse.
Hengtian pointed to China’s expanding economic relationship with Nigeria, describing the country as China’s largest engineering contracting market in Africa, its second-largest export market, third-largest trading partner and one of its leading investment destinations on the continent.
He cited landmark projects such as the Lagos Light Rail, Abuja Rail Mass Transit, Lekki Deep Sea Port, and the Zungeru Hydropower Station as symbols of growing bilateral cooperation.
He also highlighted expanding educational exchanges, with increasing numbers of Nigerian students studying in Chinese universities while Chinese engineers and companies continue participating in infrastructure development across Nigeria. For Chinese officials, these projects represent stories that deserve greater international visibility.
Soft power through journalism
The two programmes illustrate China’s growing reliance on what Harvard political scientist Joseph Nye famously described as soft power: the ability to influence others through attraction rather than coercion. Traditionally, countries projected influence through military alliances, economic assistance, or political pressure.
However, in recent times, governments have continued to compete and assert dominance through culture, education, media, technology, and public diplomacy. China has embraced this approach with remarkable consistency over the past two decades.
China’s investment in journalist exchanges is aimed at strengthening the Asian country’s image across the globe. Journalists occupy a particularly strategic position within this effort.
Why the Global South matters.
China’s engagement with journalists mirrors its broader diplomatic and economic priorities. Africa, Asia and Latin America have become central to Beijing’s foreign policy through the Belt and Road Initiative, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and expanding trade partnerships.
China is now the largest trading partner for many African countries and a major investor in infrastructure, energy, telecommunications, and manufacturing. Educational cooperation has similarly expanded through scholarships, university partnerships and research collaboration. Media engagement has naturally followed.
Competing narratives
China’s expanding media diplomacy also reflects growing strategic competition with the United States and Europe. For much of the post-Cold War era, Western news organisations dominated international reporting.
Global broadcasters such as the BBC, CNN, France 24 and Voice of America became influential sources of information across developing countries. Western universities similarly attracted thousands of journalists through fellowships and professional training. However, China is increasingly building comparable institutions; even as its international broadcasters have expanded multilingual services, Chinese universities also now attract growing numbers of international students, while professional exchanges involving journalists have become significantly more frequent. Also, publishing, translation, academic cooperation, and digital communication have all received increased government support.
Rather than confronting Western narratives directly, China seeks to broaden the information environment by ensuring its own perspectives receive greater international exposure.
Transparency also remains essential.
Journalists should disclose participation where appropriate while maintaining the same standards applied to all reporting. Ultimately, editorial decisions continue to rest with individual journalists and their media organisations rather than programme organisers.
Nigerian journalists speak.
Some Nigerian participants who spoke with Open African Tribune on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorised by their media platforms to speak on the matter, describe these media exchanges primarily as opportunities to observe another society directly, establish professional networks and compare development experiences. They further noted that exposure does not eliminate critical thinking and objective reporting.
Communication as geopolitical strategy
China’s investment in journalism reflects a broader understanding that information has become a strategic resource. Though infrastructure projects, trade agreements, and diplomatic partnerships undoubtedly remain important, perceptions increasingly shape international influence.
Governments now compete not only to build roads, railways, and ports but also to explain why they matter; hence, communication has become inseparable from foreign policy.
Institutions such as CICG and CIPCC represent different components of that communication strategy. One focuses on publishing, translation, and international communication. The other concentrates on immersive journalist exchanges. Together, they reinforce China’s efforts to engage directly with audiences across the developing world.
Beyond Beijing
The implications extend well beyond China. As geopolitical competition intensifies, journalist exchanges are likely to become even more common. Countries increasingly recognise that trust, credibility, and mutual understanding cannot be built solely through official statements. They require sustained engagement between people.
For journalists, such programmes provide opportunities to observe unfamiliar societies from within while expanding professional networks across continents.
For governments, they represent long-term investments in influence. For scholars, they demonstrate how diplomacy itself is evolving.
Military strength and economic power remain essential components of international relations. Increasingly, however, communication has become another arena of competition.
China’s engagement with journalists from the Global South therefore reveals more than an expanding exchange programme. It highlights a changing international order in which the battle for influence is increasingly fought through stories, ideas and perceptions.
Whether Beijing’s growing investment in media diplomacy will ultimately reshape global narratives remains uncertain. What is already clear, however, is that the Asian country’s journalism exchange programmes is aimed at taking part in the control of geopolitical narratives, especially in the Global South.
