Name: Alexey Efimov, Deputy Director, Sputnik Asia NewsService

Title: Media Cooperation Along the Belt and Road: Sputnik News Agency Perspective

Abstract

It’s been a while since the proposal of the Belt and Road Initiative and up till now it still remains a very hot topic for discussion and implementation in the countries bordering China. My country, Russia, is one of them. It is not only discussion but also the implementation of the initiative: in May 2015, presidents of Russia and China signed an agreement in Moscow to coordinate the development of the Belt and Road Initiative with the Eurasian Union.

It is also known that the Belt and Road Initiative includes transport and strategic links with Central Asian countries, of which are some members of the Eurasian Union. The Belt and Road Initiative, as I see it, is all about mutually beneficial cooperation,

and that includes the cooperation within media. After all, it is national and multinational media that make public projects of cooperation help to establish friendly links between peoples, which tell stories of real life. I would like to stress that in the modern and increasingly complex world, it’s crucial that media do objective and unbiased reporting. That’s especially true when we are talking about implementing the Belt and Road Initiative.

My agency, Rossiya Segodnya media group’s Sputnik News Agency and

Broadcasting, has presence in virtually all countries along the Economic Belt of the Silk Road: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan; we have presence in China and other countries of Asia with very popular websites in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese… and of course Russian (under the name of RIA Novosti) and English.

To give a few figures about our Central Asia branch and multimedia hub: Sputnik Kyrgyzstan boasts the first place among news portals and media outlets in the country; Sputnik Tajikistan—the 5th place, Sputnik Uzbekistan also the 5th place, Sputnik Kazakhstan—the 23rd place. RIA Novosti website of Russian constantly keeps the first place in Russia, Sputnik China has about 9 million followers in Weibo.

Most of the multimedia hubs, whether in Kyrgyzstan, Beijing or Moscow, have capabilities to hold videoconferences. That’s very effective, I must say: for instance, we regularly hold video-press-conferences in Beijing, linking press and experts there with guests in Moscow studio. Experts discuss key international and regional problems face-to-face, and journalists can interact with them wherever they are: in Moscow, Beijing or anywhere else.

Another topic here is mutual exchange of information and journalists. I believe that’s one of the most efficient ways to get firsthand knowledge of what’s happening in the region. I also assume that, for instance, Chinese journalists would be more than happy to visit Central Asia and get acquainted with their colleagues from Sputnik there and vice versa: given the complexity of the region I assure you that Sputnik’s correspondents would be more than eager to get to know their neighbor—China, better. I would like to call on everyone present here to enhance cooperation. Sputnik has been always welcoming in this regard. We can do a lot of things together, mutually

beneficial and challenging, what’s more important, interesting to our readers.

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