He said that along with the popularization of the Internet, online journalism has grown into a world trend, promising a bright future. Moreover, he added, after China’s accession to WTO, more foreigners will pay attention to news and events in China, all posing new challenges and opportunities to Chinese journalists. CIIC is just the right thing in the right time, he said.

Making full use of state-of-the-art technologies, CIIC shoulders the important task of presenting a true and colorful picture of modern China to the whole world, said Zhao when interviewed by CIIC staff reporter.

According to him, reports on China covered by foreign news media are sometimes misleading and often insufficient, whereas the effectiveness of Chinese international publications are offset by long producing duration and high publishing cost. Now combining immediacy of the Internet with experienced traditional media staff, CIIC has found a good way out, Zhao said, adding that its role is to introduce, at full scale, the reality, social development and policies of China to the world.

But as a brand new form of communication, Zhao stressed, online media demands a whole set of new ideas concerning reporting, operation and maintenance. He urged CIIC to follow the principle of immediacy, accuracy and sufficiency in its news coverage, blazing a new trail for China’s international journalism in the cyber age.

(CIIC 11/24/2000)