Malaysia's BERNAMA, China's Xinhua Renew Collaboration For News Exchange
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 18 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) and China’s Xinhua News Agency (Xinhua) solidified their collaboration by renewing their News Exchange and Cooperation Agreement on Monday.
The agreement was signed by Bernama’s Editor-in-Chief (also discharging the duties of Chief Executive Officer) Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin and Xinhua’s Director for Asia-Pacific Regional Bureau Wang Jinfu at Bernama’s headquarters, Wisma Bernama, here.
The momentous signing ceremony was witnessed by Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil and the Chinese Embassy's Minister in Malaysia Zheng Xuefang.
Also present were Deputy Secretary-General (Strategic Communication and Creative Industry) of the Communications Ministry Nik Kamaruzaman Nik Husin, Bernama’s Chairman Wong Chun Wai, and Xinhua’s Vice President Zhu Haili.
Wong noted in his welcoming remarks that the renewal of this agreement aligns perfectly with the upcoming 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and China, heralding the commencement of the celebrations next month.
“I express heartfelt gratitude for the trust placed in our collaboration. Bernama truly appreciates the generous support shown by Xinhua, and we eagerly anticipate the continued success of this enduring partnership,” he added.
Meanwhile, Wang pointed out that Xinhua is willing to increase communication with the Malaysian media professionals through bilateral and multilateral platforms, enhance mutual understanding and promote deeper cooperation.
“I believe that the cooperation among Xinhua, Bernama and other Malaysian media will continue to achieve new progress. You all are welcome to visit Xinhua,” he said.
Bernama and Xinhua's cooperation in news exchanges began on Dec 14, 1985, with the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) in Kuala Lumpur.
Since then, cooperation between the two news agencies continued to grow, providing balanced and fair coverage on international news and valuable insights into developments not only in Malaysia and China but also the rest of the world.
This timely renewal of the agreement between Bernama and Xinhua marks another milestone for both sides, as it opens doors for more seamless content exchanges to meet the ever changing vibrant media landscape, and better serve the growing demands of audience in the age of digitalisation and artificial intelligence.
From providing news content since its inception in 1967 under the Bernama Act, the agency's services now expanded from solely wire news and photographs service to broadcasting via Bernama TV and Bernama Radio, as well as digital media.
Bernama also has a strong presence in social media platforms including on Facebook, X, instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Threads.
Currently, Bernama delivers its news via wires services in six languages namely Bahasa Melayu, English, Mandarin, Tamil, Arabic and Spanish.
Xinhua, a ministry-level institution founded in 1931, is the largest media organisation in China.
On average, the news agency releases some 15,000 media publications per day in Chinese, English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, German, Portuguese, and Mongolian Cyrillic.
Xinhua has 181 bureaus around the world, with the Malaysia’s bureau currently headed by Mao Pengfei.
The renewal of the agreement is also significant as it coincides with the celebration of Malaysia-China 50th year anniversary of diplomatic relations next year.
This year also marked the 10th anniversary of establishment of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Malaysia and China.
-- BERNAMA
