On 12 May 2018, a media luncheon was held during the 1st ASEAN-China Media Cooperation Forum. Prof. Shi Anbin, Ministry of Education Endowment Professor of Global Media and Communication Studies, Associate Dean of Research with School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University, gave a lecture on “Innovating Chinese Press in the era of Smart/Immersive Media”.

Prof. Shi briefed on the development of Chinese media. He said that China’s media industry has entered into a golden era where all sectors of media are thriving. The entire industry has achieved unprecedented prosperity with a total value of RMB 2 trillion while growing at an annual rate of 20%. There are over 2,000 newspapers, 10,000 magazines, 300 broadcast stations and more than 3,000 TV stations in China, covering a total of 1.35 billion people. China’s media industry and market has become the world’s second-largest after the United States. There are more than 3 million websites, covering a number of 731 millions netizens, with the “Internet penetration rate” of 53.2%. The mobile users reached 1.32 billion.

Prof. Shi elaborated on the three stages of development of news content production --- from news professionals producing content in the traditional era to users producing content on mobile network platform in the era of internet, and to machines producing content in use of high technology in today’s era of artificial intelligence. He said that during the process of development, the ways of news dissemination also underwent tremendous changes. He used “Xinhua Smart Cloud”(developed by Xinhua News Agency) as an example to illustrate the most cutting-edge technology applications in news dissemination in China, including artificial intelligence, multi-dimensional functions, virtual reality and augmented reality. He also introduced such new media concepts as "Convergence Media Mechanism" and "Cloud Platform and Media Matrix" and other media systems such as the news release system, resource sharing system, and media asset system.

The forum participants all acknowledged that the lecture enlightened them with a new and direct understanding of China’s media industry and the development of new media technology. Participants from ASEAN countries expressed their wishes to learn from China in using high-end and cutting-edge technologies in media. They hoped to strengthen exchange and cooperation with China in this regard and jointly promote media development of both sides.