China opens new media centre to train officials

China opened its first national media training centre to help government officials and entrepreneurs attain high-level skills for communicating with the media and the public.

Beijing: In an attempt to step up public diplomacy both home and abroad, China on Thursday opened its first national media training centre to help government officials and entrepreneurs attain high-level skills for communicating with the media and the public. The centre was co-founded by the Communication University of China (CUC) and the China Public Relations Association (CPRA).

It is the first of its kind in China. "In this multimedia and big data era, it is a key requirement for officials and entrepreneurs to attain high-level skills for communicating with the media," Chen Wenshen, the ruling Communist Party secretary of the CUC told state-run Xinhua news agency at the inauguration ceremony for the centre. The centre was expected to train the reticent Chinese officials to deal with media on critical issues to highlight country`s stand. The centre is "aiming to help government and business leaders at all levels to better understand the media, improve their expressiveness and cultivate a sense of positive communication and spirit to serve the people around them," the media release said. "China has been attracting more attention from the world, and the need for the world to understand the real China has never been this urgent," Su Qiucheng, president of the CPRA, said, adding that the association will devote its efforts to improving sound interactions among governments, enterprises, media and the public. China also expanded its official media which continue to enjoy monopoly, though it is stressed by the emerging microblog social media like Weibo, the Chinese twitter. PTI