MOSCOW, July 6 (Xinhua) -- A launch ceremony for a China-Russia cross-border joint media tour to mark the 70th anniversary of cooperation between China's Xinhua News Agency and Russia's TASS news agency was held Monday at the square in front of the TASS headquarters in Moscow.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, TASS Director General Andrey Kondrashov, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui, and Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova attended the event and jointly cut the ribbon to launch the tour.
Chernyshenko said the partnership between TASS and Xinhua has been deepening under the guidance and promotion of the leadership of both nations. The Russian leg of the joint media tour will focus on field interviews along Russia's "Golden Ring" cultural and tourism route. A delegation composed of 25 journalists from both sides will visit several historical and cultural cities hailed as "historical textbooks" of Russia.
This event will not only deepen pragmatic exchanges and broaden cooperation between the two agencies but also boost cultural and tourism exchanges as well as collaborative development of the tourism industry between Russia and China, Chernyshenko said.
Kondrashov said the joint media tour highlights the deep foundation of cooperation between Russian and Chinese media. Beyond facilitating professional journalistic exchanges, the itinerary for the Russian leg is dedicated to bringing the peoples of the two countries closer. He expressed expectations that the two agencies could use this event as a bond to advance from professional collaboration to a deeper level of cultural integration, adding new momentum to bilateral relations.
For his part, Zhang said that under the strategic guidance and leadership of the two countries' heads of state, China-Russia relationship is now at its highest level in history, and media has played a significant role in promoting the development of bilateral ties.
Over the past 70 years, Xinhua and TASS have deeply participated in the development of China-Russia relations, comprehensively recorded every stage of the process, built a solid bridge for information sharing and communication, and continuously deepened mutual understanding between the two peoples, Zhang said.
At this important historical moment of the 70th anniversary, the joint media tour bears profound significance. Featuring an innovative concept and rich content, the tour will present a vivid, multidimensional and comprehensive picture of bilateral cooperation to the public in both countries, serving as a new starting point for the two agencies to deepen practical cooperation, he said.
Zakharova emphasized that it is now necessary for the two agencies to review their past cooperation and work out new collaborative projects. Field visits, personal experiences and on-site exchanges help validate perceptions and enhance mutual understanding. Xinhua journalists will visit attractions along the "Golden Ring," which will become "a road of friendship" between Russia and China.
The joint media tour includes two legs, respectively in Russia and China. The theme for the Russian leg is "Roads of Friendship: Preserving the Past, Striving for the Future," during which the joint delegation will travel along the "Golden Ring" from July 7 to 14 to cover multiple historical and cultural cities. The tour will take them to China later. ■