IT’S news Jim, but not as we know it. A Russian-financed news agency with a base in Edinburgh has signed a content-sharing agreement with one of China’s to give their readers “a fuller picture” of their domestic and international agendas.
Sputnik news agency and radio and Global Times Online will exchange news and analysis in Chinese and English. The Russian agency already has similar arrangements with other Chinese media, including Xinhua, China Radio International, and China Daily.
The agreement was signed in Beijing by Global Times deputy editor-in-chief, Meng Yuhong, and Russian counterpart Yelena Chepurnykh.
Chepurnykh said: “The Chinese audience is already familiar with Sputnik. The Sputnik China website was launched in 2014 and it also broadcasts radio programmes.
“Sputnik is gaining popularity on Weibo, with some nine million subscribers. Global Times Online will help Sputnik expand the Chinese component of the global news scene which we now cover internationally in over 30 languages.”
Meng added: “The Global Times newspaper and portal and Sputnik agreed to cooperate and exchange news content. The partnership will have a positive impact on enhancing the affinity between the two nations and on the development of the major Russian and Chinese media.
“Thanks to cooperation with Sputnik, Global Times will be able to more promptly and accurately provide its readers with diverse information about events around the world. At the same time, we will promote China’s and Russia’s interests and perspectives on the major international events among the global community.”
Kremlin-backed Sputnik is a news agency and radio network with multimedia hubs in dozens of countries, broadcasting through its websites in more than 30 languages, as well as on analogue and digital radio, mobile apps, and social media.
Global Times Online is a joint venture by the Renminwang Internet news portal and Global Times newspaper. It was launched in 2007, since when it has become an officially approved high-level news portal and bureau of China’s State Council.
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