Fifth World Media Summit to be held in two Chinese cities

The notion of holding the summit was first proposed by Xinhua in 2008 with the aim of facilitating exchanges among leading media groups worldwide on the challenges posed by the emergence of New Media and enhancing  co-operation.

Co-initiated by a collection of media organisations with global influence – including the Xinhua News Agency, Associated Press, Reuters and the TASS Russian News Agency – the first summit, organised by Xinhua, was held in Beijing in 2009.

With Moscow hosting the second in 2012, followed by the third in Doha, Qatar in 2016, and Beijing in 2021 where the fourth summit took place via video link, the World Media Summit has demonstrated its commitment to inclusivity and a diverse representation of global media perspectives.

From top executives and editors-in-chief to seasoned journalists and media scholars, as well as press officials, the summit seeks to share insights and collectively address the multifaceted challenges confronting contemporary media.

Since its inception, the summit has achieved remarkable progress in its effort to promote international people-to-people exchanges as well as exchanges and mutual learning.

A series of documents have been issued to strengthen media connections and promote co-operation, including the World Media Summit Joint Statement, the World Media Summit Convention on the Protection of Intellectual Property Related to Media Results, the World Media Summit Doha Statement, the Fourth World Media Summit Presidium Meeting Shanghai Consensus and the joint statement of the 4th World Media Summit.

Multiple activities have been successfully held to enhance practical cooperation.

The World Media Summit Global Awards for Excellence were organised in 2014 and 2021. Training programmes for media professionals from Asia, Africa and Latin America were set up, and several large-scale international public welfare projects were initiated, including the Global News Day for Children, with a global live broadcast around the clock, the Zoom-in on Poverty Global Photo Contest, and media campaigns focused on Africa.

Through establishing the Presidium, the supreme decision-making body of the summit, and the Secretariat as part of the daily administrative structure, the summit has made significant strides in institutional building, which ensures the long-term stability and development of the summit.

The fifth summit will be hosted by Xinhua from 2 to 8 December 2023 in China’s Guangzhou city of Guangdong Province and Kunming city of Yunnan Province.

More than 450 attendees from 101 countries and regions – representatives from nearly 200 mainstream media outlets, think tanks and government agencies, as well as international organisations – will participate this year.

Themed ‘Boosting Global Confidence, Promoting Media Development’, the summit will address topics including bolstering media confidence, coping with opportunities and challenges presented by new technologies, exploring new markets in the digital age and striving for a shared future in global media cooperation.