On 19 June 2019, the press conference and launching ceremony of “ the Thousand Miles on the Silk Road-2019 Amazing ASEAN” , a special activity of the 2019 ASEAN-China Year of Media Exchanges, was held in Beijing. Mr. Chen Dehai, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), Mr. Ling Li, Deputy Director-General of International Promotion Bureau of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, Mr. Yan Chengsheng, Deputy Director-General of International Cooperation Department of National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), Mr. Wang Jide, Deputy Director-General of the Publicity Department of the CPC Shaanxi Provincial Committee, Mr. Jing Shuiqing, Vice President of China Intercontinental Communication Center (CICC), Mr. Hu Jintao, President of Shaanxi Broadcasting Corporation (SXBC), attended the event among 100 participants including officials from embassies of Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam,  media representatives and people from all sectors of society.

Secretary-General Chen Dehai stated in his speech that the Belt and Road Initiative has become the largest platform for international cooperation and the most popular public good in the world. And ASEAN is a priority region in the pursuit of the BRI. To celebrate the ASEAN-China Year of Media Exchanges in 2019, the two sides have been working together to organize a series of activities for more substantial and concrete outcomes in media exchanges and cooperation. As a large-scale cross-border reporting trip, “the Thousand Miles on the Silk Road” passed on enthusiasm and friendship to people along the route and was widely welcomed by  all parties. This year, the trip will take Chinese media to ASEAN Member States, with the mission of exploring news stories in various areas to promote friendly exchanges and practical cooperation between the two sides. He believed more interesting and vivid ASEAN-China stories with unique perspectives would be told to give fresh impetus to the development of ASEAN-China relations.

According tothe event co-host, CICC and SXBC, “the Thousand Miles on the Silk Road” was launched in 2014 and the Chinese media involved in the event has passed through over 100 famous silk road cities in 32 countries in Eurasia. The reporting trip in 2019 highlights ASEAN and aims to promote media exchanges and cooperation between ASEAN and China and tell the stories of ASEAN-China cooperation. The participants of  the trip are scheduled to set off from Beijing in September and will travel through several provinces in China and 10 ASEAN countries. The whole journey will span 15,000 kilometers, lasting 50 days.