BEIJING, June 21 (INP): China will continue to enhance media cooperation with countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) including Pakistan, the president of the All-China Journalists Association Zhang Yannong said. Since the initiative was put forward in 2013, it has been widely reported by media outlets in Belt and Road countries, and that coverage has contributed to constructive cooperation among these countries. The association will further promote long-term cooperation with media associations in Belt and Road countries, including personnel training, content sharing and technological cooperation, Zhang said at the 2018 Belt and Road Journalists Forum held here. About 100 journalists from 47 countries and regions that are involved in the initiative participated in the forum in Beijing. The association has signed cooperation agreements with media associations in more than 20 countries and regions. Hu Bangsheng, vice-president of China Radio International, said people in the countries and regions taking part in the initiative are of different ethnic groups, have different religious beliefs and speak more than 50 languages, and that poses challenges to media as they report on the initiative. It is impossible for the different countries to have unified views, Hu said, but the media can have empathy for different cultures and be committed to factual reporting. The media cooperation forum serves as a platform for communication and mutual learning among journalists, politicians, businesspeople and scholars from around the world, he said. The Belt and Road Initiative conforms to the trend of development, he said and added that news sharing, policy studies, information integration and business exchanges should be strengthened to build bridges between cultures and embrace a brighter future. Thepchai Yong, president of the Confederation of ASEAN Journalists, said the media plays an important role in enhancing people-to-people communication in this increasingly connected world, and it is the duty of the media to better inform the people of current events. There should be more cooperation among media outlets of Belt and Road countries because the profession is universal, he said. Abdul Waheed Odusile, president of the Federation of African Journalists, said African nations are still seen as Third World countries by Western media as the coverage is often biased. He added that it is important for African journalists to tell their stories from their perspective. INP/J/SB