25 MA students  from Hong Kong Baptist University, specialising in Financial Journalism, attended the CMC study trip “Financial and Economic Reporting in the UK” from 3 January until 10 January 2010. The delegation was lead by Prof Huang Yu, who took his PhD at the University of Westminster under Professor Colin Sparks and is Head of Department of Journalism at Hong Kong Baptist University. Among highlights were visits to the Financial Times, London Stock Exchange, BBC and City of London. The trip was designed by Dr Zeng Rong and managed by Alja Kranjec.

China Central Television was the venue for a 2-day Workshop on British journalism organized by China Media Centre in October 2009. Speakers were Hugo de Burgh, CMC Director, Kevin Sutcliffe, C4’s Head of Current Affairs, Steve Hewlett, presenter of BBC’s The Media Show, Zhang Jie, Editor of CCTV’s News Investigation and Yang Rui, Presenter of CCTV’s Dialogue.

A one-day CMC seminar was held in the Houses of Parliament to address the implications of China’s management of its environmental challenges for government policy and British business. It was hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group on China and sponsored by Norton Rose. 170 people attended, from business, the policy world and media.

One of CMC’s research themes, along with regulation, journalism and innovation in the media, is the relationship between media and environment. This seminar is one of several initiatives connected with this theme, including a workshop at Caijing magazine in  Peking, producing a report on journalism and the environment for International Media Support and being knowledge partner for the October Wilton Park Conference on China’s environment.

• Programme: 090625OnDayProgramme2x
• 306009 Speakers biographies

This is a conference of the China Media Centre for the APPCG, with Knowledge Partner, Norton Rose LLP. With assistance from the Chinese Embassy and Chinadialogue http://www.chinadialogue.net/

The CMC director, Hugo de Burgh, joined the Chinese Ambassador Ms Fu Ying on a panel which also included the Lib-Dem Leader in the Upper House, Lord McNulty, and the Shadow Foreign Affairs Secretary Michael Moore MP.

WILTON PARK

The CMC partnered Wilton Park (an Executive Agency of the Foreign Office) with a conference called Working in China on Sustainable Growth — The Climate Change, Environment, Energy Nexus. The Vice Chancellor, Prof Geoffrey Petts, Visiting Professor Hu Zhengrong (Deputy President, China Communications University), Prof Hugo de Burgh and Dr Zeng Rong participated and represented University of Westminster. For further information please click on the link below.

Report on Wilton Park Conference WP1000 Final 281009

CONFERENCE ON BRITISH JOURNALISM

CUC and CMC are holding a conference in Beijing in October 2009. CMC is supplying 2 celebrity UK journalists Stephen Hewlett and Kevin Sutcliffe (paid for under the IMS contract) and its Director to speak at a CUC conference in October 2009. Steve Hewlett both presents The Media Show and writes regularly for The Guardian. He has a terrific track record as reporter and producer as well as in newspaper journalism.  Kevin Sutcliffe is Deputy Head of News & Current Affairs at C4 and has been responsible for the renaissance of the investigative series DISPATCHES. CUC has undertaken to provide an audience of influential media managers from the mainstream

FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR

Copyright by Frankfurt Book Fair

EU Commissioner Orban and Chinese Minister for Culture, a French Diplomat and the CMC Director are the speakers at the EU-China Forum at the Frankfurt Book Fair on 15 October.

STATE COUNCIL

The highest-level ever delegation from China’s State Council Information Office undertook a three week course designed for the China Media Centre by Simon Goldsworthy and Visiting Professor Trevor Morris, experts in branding and PR. Among the highlights were a colloquy with Lord Bell and senior figures at Chime Communications plc; visits to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Cabinet Office, the BBC and the Guardian Newspaper; talks about advertising from Sir Chris Powell and on the use of new media from former Cabinet Office minister Tom Watson MP; and a lecture in Edinburgh from John Brown, a PR expert who formerly shared an office at Scottish TV with his brother the current Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and CMC Director Professor Hugo de Burgh.

SUMMER SCHOOLS

The China Media Centre has held its first 2 Summer Schools for Chinese media students. In July this was directed by former Reuters Editor Paul Majendie and in September by TV producer Dr Richard Wright. The students both learnt about the European media and undertook practical tasks, making TV features under the direction of Journalism Head of Department Geoffrey Davies. Both summer schools were managed by Alja Kranjec, who hopes to hold at least two each year from now on.

INNOVATION 1

In October CMC launches another first, a course specially designed for Chinese TV executives by Dr Zeng Rong entitled Innovation, creativity and programme development in UK television. This course is full; if successful CMC expects to offer it twice each year.

Empire: How Britain made the Modern World is the most succinct description of how today’s world came to be as it is. It will be a long time before a definitive exposition is written of how China came to supplant that role. But a good many people are ready with the first drafts. Last week I listened to Stephen Green, Chairman of HSBC, tell the Vice Chancellors of Britain that the global balance was shifting.  A few days later, at the 48 Group New Year Celebration at the Dorchester, John Prescott, former Deputy Prime Minister, a couple of Ministers and the top cheeses of two of our big companies said much the same. Martin Wolf and lesser wiseacres in the FT concur.

They may be in too fast. My Chinese friends, despite being avid watchers of the CCTV series ‘Rise of the Great Powers’ prefer to be modest about China’s ascent. They remind me that there’s a lot of poverty and that the recovery from 40 years of communist destruction is only just started. And there is a bevy of foreign China watchers, chaps like Will Hutton, who say it cannot possibly happen until China sorts out its politics and becomes like Britain, so there! But something big is happening in the world and the economic crisis has just accentuated it. Even if you don’t agree that China is about to displace the USA, then you may sign up to the widely acknowledged fact that the economic drive plus vast population of China poses some big challenges for the Anglophones, who, first under Britain’s leadership, and then the USA’s, have dominated, hard and soft, the world for a very long time.

The aim of this blog is to discuss the impact of these challenges on England. I will contribute some ideas regularly – but I’m also writing to all the smart cookies I know to ask them to write in.

Today I’m contacting two people I’ve just enjoyed discussing Barack Obama with on an inauguration day chat show – Diane Abbott the socialist MP and Peter Oborne the Tory polemicist and investigative journalist. And I’ll ask Stephen Green and the very bright China buffs from Pinsent Masons and Standard Chartered too. When we in the China Media Centre ran the Westminster Hearings on China’s Impact in Parliament last year one of the best speakers was Liu Mingkang, Chairman of the Banking Reform Commission. And so on. These guys have ideas worth hearing, arguments worth tackling. Happy New Year. And I, by the way, am an Ox.

QUESTIONS WE’D LIKE YOU TO ADDRESS IN YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE BLOG:

• What are the challenges that China’s rise poses for this country? [do we need to change how we work, educate or provide social security?]
• What can we learn from China? In what ways can each country’s culture be improved by learning from each other?
• What kinds of cooperation are possible between this country and China?

In his review, Professor de Burgh opposes Will Hutton’s negative assessment of China’s economic and political situation. Professor de Burgh argues that in order to understand the situation accurately an historical approach, which takes into account China’s unique political, cultural and social past is required.

The China Review is produced by the Great Britain-China Centre. which is the leading UK body in the development of non-governmental relations with China. You can log onto The China Review website to view Professor de Burgh’s article. Professor de Burgh has written widely on China – his most recent book is: China: Friend or Foe?

If you would like to find out more about the CMC Westminster hearings, please download the attached brochure.Westminster Brochure.

The original purpose – from China Media Centre’s point of view – of agreeing to arrange the Willetts visit was to practice managing similar visits for leading British decision-makers who want to learn about particular aspects of China, something that Song Junfang and I may work on next year. Accompanying Willetts enabled us to create or develop relationships with both Chinese potential partners and with Embassy/British Council personnel, relationships that are potentially valuable for getting access, and certainly for market intelligence. Also, Willetts was guest of honour at two alumni parties and a dinner for leading Chinese intellectuals, at least one of whom I was able to assess as a suitable speaker in the forthcoming Parliamentary Hearings on China.

In what is probably a first for a British politician, David Willetts was invited to speak at the think tank of the Communist Party Central Committee, the Centre for Comparative Politics and Economics, where he was quizzed on subjects such as his own constituency’s electoral record and his views on voluntarism, the British industrial evolution and Greek political theory. This was arranged by Gary Hallsworth, of the British Council, several of whose staff (led by Director Michael O’Sullivan) were very energetic in their arrangements and generous with their time in making the visit a success.

There and elsewhere, Willetts got into long discussions with Chinese intellectuals about governance, and population and social issues which enthral him, such as pensions. I think he was – as everyone is – astonished by the pace, depth and extent of development here, and the ambition which drives it. He saw schools in Peking and Shanghai and was briefed by education officials at different levels. He took the overnight train from Peking to Suzhou where he was as impressed by the brilliant architecture – recalling renaissance Florence as much as southern China – of the new museum by IM Pei, as by the lovely Garden of the Humble Administrator. At a provincial university in Chongqing we saw new campuses that dwarf and best ours; at the automobile factory – 200,000 cars a year – we saw a discipline and productivity that evinces respect. The dominant characteristics of modern China are its pragmatism – nobody wastes time thinking ideologically any longer, they just want to know if something works – and its dynamism. People work tremendously hard and have an enthusiasm for life that appears underpinned by supportive personal relationships. The third overwhelming characteristic of Chinese society is that importance given to personal relationships, in which a friend will trust another friend more than the law or any impersonal authority.

Other achievements this visit:

In Peking I met the global consultancy McKinseys, CMC’s Knowledge Partner for the forthcoming Westminster Hearings on the Impact of China’s Economic Development on the UK in a useful session (separate report) which helps us solidify the Hearings. Meetings have been, or will be held, with Tsinghua’s Dean of Communications (ongoing projects), the Director of CUC’s new Centre for European Media (with reference to CMC’s plan to set up a European Network on the Chinese Media) and CUC Pro Vice Chancellor Professor Hu Zhengrong about proposed seminars in Peking on Media Regulation.

In Shanghai I attended the debriefing of the Shanghai TV group that had recently studied under Kim Gordon in London, met the Managing Director and talked at length about future projects with the UW alumnus who is now Director of the International office. I also continued discussions with McKinseys (separate report).

In Chongqing we first tried to obtain access to the CQ Media Group leadership through a UW alumnus introduced us by the British Council (and separately identified by Song Junfang). However, we needed to call on our own resources in Peking to obtain a meeting with the decision-makers. After a cool start, once we had told them about the courses being run by KG, and the recent SCIO course run by HB and JS, they became very enthusiastic to work with us.

In Chongqing we were received by the body promoting the city abroad, with a view to sponsorship of one of the Hearings. We have to provide a written breakdown. Their interest prompted us to think that other Chinese companies will also be interested in involvement, and we will be exploring this over the next 2-3 weeks.

Leading the centre will be Professors Hugo de Burgh, Colin Sparks and Professor Harriet Evans, all of whom have long established expertise in Chinese media and culture.  The centre, which already has a number of doctoral students from mainland China, has just been awarded substantial funding by the University to build upon its excellent links with Chinese universities and media institutions, with new courses, academic exchanges and research projects.

The Centre will be launched later this year with a series of conferences designed to offer its expertise to government, businesses and NGOs keen to build links with China and to gain more understanding of its culture and ethos through the agency of its media.