'China Daily' joins 'Asia News Network'

BEIJING (JP): In a bid to liberalize its press reports and enhance news coverage, China joined a grouping of the region's democratic press on Friday in a ceremony attended by Minister of Information Zhao Qizheng.

State-run China Daily, the leading national English newspaper in China, joined the Asia News Network (ANN) to improve news coverage of regional affairs by the Asian media.

Zhao, who witnessed the signing ceremony of the daily's inclusion in the media grouping in Beijing, said: "ANN has made it possible for key English newspapers in Asia to participate in an interactive world more actively."

The participation of China Daily, the country's largest English newspaper, implies closer cooperation and communication between the Chinese and Asian media."

"The voice of Asia and China will then be heard more loudly in the international communities, and a truer picture of Asia and China will be conducive to the better development of the Asian and world media," Zhao said.

Attending the signing ceremony were ANN's chairman Ng Poh Tip, chief editors and senior editors from the member newspapers and the director of Asia Media Projects of the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation, Thomas Stehling.

Founded on March 19, 1999, ANN is the first cooperation between national daily newspapers in Asia with the help of the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation.

The inclusion of China Daily brings the alliance's members to 10, namely The Statesman from India, The Jakarta Post from Indonesia, Sin Chew Jit Ph and The Star from Malaysia, The Philippines Inquirer, The Straits Times from Singapore, The Nation from Thailand, Viet Nam News and Korea Herald.

Apart from focusing on news coverage in the region, other objectives of ANN are to provide member newspapers with reliable resources in Asia and to help promote professional journalism in the region.

According to the agreement, China Daily will exchange news, features and opinion articles on a daily basis through a joint website, http://asianewsnet.net, with other ANN members.

Other cooperation agreements to be carried out include facilitating manpower and sharing experiences through exchange programs for journalists.

"It's a good thing that Asian editors are sharing a common mission to improve Asian affairs reporting by Asian media. China Daily is willing to contribute to this endeavor," said Zhu Yinghuang, the paper's editor-in-chief.