A unique history working with China's media

 

    

Posted by Nigel Baker

The Thomson Foundation has a unique history of helping the Chinese media open up to the world having worked in the country for more than 30 years.

After China Daily launched an English-language version in 1981, we helped train its journalists and also advise on the commercial operation of the newspaper.

Several years later, the foundation set up a journalism training centre in Beijing in partnership with news agency Xinhua, the largest news and information collection and distribution centre in China, employing 10,000 people. It provides a worldwide news service in seven languages. Its website is the largest online news service in China.

We’re proud to have played a seminal part in the training of journalists in China over three decades. .

Media training Xinhua

The foundation has continued to train Xinhua staff and recent courses have included digital and social media, data journalism and business journalism.

Thomson trainer Mark Webster led the course for business journalists from Xinhua.

“It’s the sheer size of the numbers in reporting on the Chinese economy which make it so challenging but also so fascinating,” says Mark. “In a country with 1.3 billion people, a Gross Domestic Product of more than $8 trillion and foreign exchange reserves fast approaching $4 trillion, it’s impossible to ignore China’s immense impact on global economics.”

It's impossible to ignore China's immense impact on global economies.