Chongqing - On August 4, a group of officials from Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) of Chongqing Municipal People’s Government, including Zhang Yongwu, director of FAO of Chongqing; and Wang Wen, the deputy director of FAO, visited Chongqing Daily News Group and held a meeting concerning jointly enhancing the capability of international communication with administrative staffs of Chongqing Daily News Group, including Guan Hong, secretary of the Party Committee and Xiang Zeying, deputy secretary and president of Chongqing Daily News Group.

Both sides signed a cooperative agreement to jointly promote the external publicity of foreign affairs, establish an international communication mechanism, realize mutual complementarity and resource sharing, and tell Chongqing's stories through the global internet.

Three new columns serve international cooperation and exchanges

The Foreign Affairs Office of Chongqing Municipal People’s Government and Chongqing Daily News Group signed an agreement, aiming to better leverage foreign affairs resources to expand and strengthen Chongqing's international communication platform, tell Chongqing's stories, and improve Chongqing's international image.

The Chongqing International Communication Center will open two new channels, "International Exchange" and "Special," on the English website of iChongqing. For "International Exchange," three sections will be set up, respectively "News," "Service," and "Sister Cities." The "International Exchange" channel will cover important foreign guests' visits to Chongqing, major foreign affairs, international cooperation, international people-to-people exchanges, and other foreign affairs of Chongqing. It will also publish and interpret Chongqing's international communication policies, including policies and regulations concerning international economic and trade cooperation, the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, cultural exchanges, consular visas, work, and life, and contact information of foreign consulates in Chongqing, to deepen overseas users' understanding of Chongqing and promote Chongqing's international exchanges and cooperation.

Both parties will facilitate Chongqing to communicate with international sister cities through iChongqing's overseas social media matrix. iChongqing has cooperated with social media of Chongqing's international sister cities to launch the "Chongqing@ International Sister Cities Street Culture Festival" to demonstrate the cultural interaction between Chongqing and international sister cities. iChongqing will team up with overseas social media accounts of international sister cities, like Facebook and Twitter, to jointly carry out meaningful activities, including food festivals and street dance competitions, participate in momentous celebrations of the sister cities, and know about their important customs, so as to further strengthen the friendship with sister cities and promote cooperation with them in economy and trade, science and technology, culture, education, and many other fields.

Overseas communication  through iChongqing

Chongqing Daily News Group set up Chongqing International Communication Center in August 2018 and operated the English website of iChongqing and relevant overseas social media. As of now, with more than 6 million overseas users, iChongqing has developed into the main platform for Chongqing to carry out foreign-oriented publicity whereby foreign nationals can have a better understanding of Chongqing.

iChongqing focuses on activities in foreign affairs and external exchanges. Over the past more than two years, the website has published a total of 1,185 English press releases and posted 10,000-plus tweets on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

In 2019, iChongqing planned a seven-episode video series, "Chongqing's International Circle of Friends," and interviewed seven foreign consuls and directors of chambers of commerce on the exchange and cooperation between Chongqing and their countries in economy, culture, and society. The series received favorable responses online.

During the annual Chongqing's "two sessions" and the national "two sessions," Chongqing International Communication Center would offer news features on iChongqing's English website and interview multiple foreign (general) consuls. Many foreign consulates in Chongqing and Chengdu would pay close attention to iChongqing's English reports. A number of entrepreneurs from the European Union (EU), the United States, and the British Chamber of Commerce Southwest China and people from overseas living in Chongqing have said that they could gain a better understanding of the significance and importance of China's "two sessions" through iChongqing's reports. During Chongqing's "two sessions" in 2021, iChongqing launched a series of video reports revolving around the event of 15 consular officers and representatives of foreign institutions from Chengdu and Chongqing attending Chongqing's "two sessions" online as observers. Combined with Chongqing's opening up in the 14^th Five-Year Plan, iChongqing shall conduct interviews on the significance of foreign chambers of commerce in Chongqing in promoting EU enterprises' investment and trade in China and their further actions. In addition, iChongqing shall voice a wider range of expectations for Chongqing's development by interviewing foreign nationals in Chongqing and inviting them to share how they perceive and look forward to the city's development.