The China International Press Communication Center (CIPCC) has brought the world's attention to China's innovative education programs through its media exchange program, which offers foreign journalists an inside look at the country's changing educational environment.
In this context, foreign reporters paid a visit to the Communication University of China (CUC) in Beijing on Wednesday, gaining firsthand experience into the media and education industries in China. The tour commenced with a warm welcome and a performance by the university's newly established Weifeng Gong and Drum Team.
Zhongrui Chen, a master's degree student in international journalism at CUC, clarified that Weifeng Gong and Drum is a traditional Chinese folk art and China's intangible cultural heritage. He pointed out that it was showcased during the opening ceremony of the 1990 Beijing Asian Games. According to Chen, teachers and students spent more than two months on polishing the performance.
As part of the tour, journalists visited the CUC Media Museum, where they followed the history of China's media industry for more than a century. They were provided with a comprehensive picture of China's progress in radio, television, and film, further enriching their knowledge about the communications sector of the country.
One of the highlights of the visit was the Information Accessibility Laboratory, where they have a revolutionary film project for the visually impaired. The university has led an open welfare endeavor named Guangming Cinema, or Bright Cinema, which makes audio-described movies available to the visually impaired audience.
This project combines the descriptions of visual scenes with dialogues and sound effects, translating visual into auditory information to enable visually impaired people to understand films. Starting in late 2017, the project has expanded rapidly. Since 2018, CUC faculty members and student volunteers have been making over 100 audio-described movies each year, allowing visually impaired viewers to watch at least two such movies a week.
Aside from the media and accessibility projects of the university, the guest journalists heard Professor Minsu Wu deliver a lecture about the vast history of China dating back to 3,000 BC. She further outlined the country's educational system and stressed how important it is in the advancement of China as well as its poverty reduction.
The CUC tour was a component of CIPCC's 2025 media exchange program, which has already reached a milestone. CIPCC invited more than 120 journalists representing over 100 countries this year alone, a new record since the program began four years ago in 2014.
Through providing such interactive experiences, CIPCC continues to expand global interaction and deepen the global world's appreciation for China's advances in media and education.
