Launching ceremony of the 2025–2026 South and Southeast Asian Media Network Cooperation Projects at the SSAMN Annual Meeting, Kunming, Yunnan Province, China, Sept 5, 2025. 

(KPL) Qu Yingpu, President and Editor-in-Chief of China Daily, has called on media organizations across South and Southeast Asia to strengthen collaboration in order to amplify Asia’s voice on the global stage and promote peace and development in the region.Qu delivered his remarks at the South and Southeast Asia Media Network (SSAMN) Annual Meeting, which opened on Sept 5 in Kunming, China’s Yunnan Province. 

The event brought together media representatives from more than 80 countries and regions, making it one of the most significant gatherings of media professionals in the region this year. 

Qu emphasized the growing role of the South and Southeast Asia Media Alliance, established in early 2024 by China Daily Asia Pacific Bureau and the South and Southeast Asia Regional International Communication Centre of Yunnan Province. 

According to Qu, the alliance has become “an important platform for telling compelling stories of shared development between China and South and Southeast Asian countries, and a solid bridge for enhancing mutual understanding among people in the region.”

Amid global uncertainties and overlapping challenges, Qu underscored the responsibility of the media to foster people-to-people exchanges, build consensus on cooperation, and contribute to peace and stability. “It is the shared responsibility of media outlets in the alliance to jointly enable China and South and Southeast Asian countries to serve as ‘stabilizers’ and ‘driving forces’ for regional and even global peace and development,” he said.

Qu also encouraged alliance members to embrace innovation, experiment with new models of collaboration, and work together to strengthen Asia’s presence in international communication.

Strengthening Regional Media Cooperation

This year’s SSAMN conference highlighted practical outcomes of regional cooperation and officially launched the Global Media Partnership Cooperation Project.

For Laos, key initiatives included the cultural event “Chinese Goodwill Enters Laos and Thailand 2025”, held under the theme “Drinking from the same river, united as one family.” The programme reflects shared cultural traditions and a commitment to unity in diversity.

Laos is also an active partner in annual cooperation projects with the Yunnan South and Southeast Asian Regional Communication Centre, including the development of inclusive media products such as sign language programming.

The conference further featured media exchange programmes under the theme “Learning from One Another for Joint Development” and roundtable discussions titled “Crossing Mountains and Seas – Advancing Hand-in-Hand,” focusing on common challenges and opportunities for regional media.

Khampanh Pheuyavong, Head of the Propaganda and Training Board of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Central Committee, delivers remarks at the meeting in Kunming, Sept 5, 2025.

In his address, Head of the Propaganda and Training Board of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Central Committee Khampanh Pheuyavong praised the South and Southeast Asian Media Partnership as a crucial platform for advancing cooperation, cultural integration, and content creation.

He underlined the contributions of Lao media organizations such as Pasaxon Newspaper, the Lao News Agency, Lao National Radio, and Lao National Television, noting that collaboration with Yunnan-based partners has already produced diverse content with visible impact and growing audience engagement.

Looking to the future, Mr. Khampanh reaffirmed that the Propaganda and Training Board of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party will continue to support regional media cooperation. Priority areas include personnel exchanges, technical collaboration, training seminars, and the integration of modern technologies such as artificial intelligence into media production.

“These efforts will help accelerate modernization, strengthen resource sharing, build collaborative platforms, and create mechanisms for joint news production,” he said, adding that the ultimate goal is to tell the story of shared regional development more effectively and contribute to building a community with a shared future for humanity.

KPL