Published: 11:16, May 29, 2023 | Updated: 11:16, May 29, 2023
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Accurate, timely news release work wins praise
By Li Lei

A panel of government officials and scholars lauded on Saturday the role played by China's news spokesperson system and its news release work in building social consensus, managing public emergencies and burnishing the country's global image since 2012.

Over the years, the Chinese government's news release events have been held at multiple levels and at high frequency, and served the country's development well, said Sun Yeli, director of the State Council Information Office, while addressing the Third China Spokesperson Forum.

More than 100 representatives from central and local government departments, universities and media outlets participated in the discussions in Beijing.

Information that is of "people's utmost concern", including those relating to employment, healthcare and housing, has been disseminated through such events, which helped both central and local governments win the recognition, understanding and support of the public, Sun said.

During the pandemic, the timely and accurate explanation of COVID-19 control policies and disease prevention expertise helped boost people's confidence and assuage panic, Sun told the forum hosted by the State Council Information Office and Tsinghua University.

As part of its news release work, the Chinese government also invited reporters working for foreign media outlets to attend official news conferences, and offered them the convenience of conducting interviews at the grassroots level, Sun said.

"News conferences have become an important platform to present to the world China's wisdom, proposals and solutions," he added.

Tsinghua University is among the first higher-learning institutions that participated in nurturing the news spokesperson system about four decades ago.

Peng Gang, a vice-president of the university, told the forum that the cause of news release work has made "significant progress "after the country adopted market-oriented reforms in the late 1970s and as it continues to strive to achieve socialist modernization.

"Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, the progress has accelerated, and played a crucial role in modernizing social governance, telling China's development stories to the world and presenting its image to the global audience," he said.

Zhao Chenxin, deputy director of and spokesman for the National Development and Reform Commission, the nation's top economic planner, said that news release work involves constantly innovating the discourse system. Spokespersons must speak in lucid, comprehensible language that common people can understand, he said.

Official news releases need to focus on public concerns, and share the details about difficulties involved and efforts made by authorities to solve them, so as to "gain understanding and support of the masses to the greatest extent possible", Zhao said.

Forum participants also agreed that more training programs are needed for spokespersons at various levels, because they are the bedrock for ensuring the "high-quality development "of the news release work.

The State Council Information Office held The First China Spokesperson Forum in 2016 in Shanghai and the second in 2018 in Beijing.

The forums were part of broader efforts by central authorities to increase the voice of China and other developing countries on the global stage, where the field of public opinion has long been dominated by Western countries.

"China is moving closer to the center of the world stage, and the news release work will play a part that matches China's overall national strength and international status," Sun said.

lilei@chinadaily.com.cn