The Xiamen-Kinmen Bridge (Xiamen section) entered a new phase of marine construction on Monday morning, marked by the completion of the east tower's piling work of the Liuwudian Channel Bridge, a pivotal component of the project, in Xiamen of Fujian Province in east China.
The Xiamen-Kinmen Bridge (Xiamen section) spans 17.34 km and is designed to link the Xiamen island with the Xiamen Xiang'an International Airport that is currently under construction. The Liuwudian Channel Bridge is the province's first offshore suspension bridge and largest span bridge with a total length of 1,948 meters and a main span of 928 meters in length.
The pile foundation of the east bridge tower was completed on Monday after four months of work, while that of the west one is expected to finish at the end of this month.
Confronted with complex geological conditions and the challenge of transporting materials to the offshore construction site, the team newly built a large-scale mixing station and employed six rotary drilling rigs which operated around the clock.
With a total investment of 37.27 billion yuan (about 5.12 billion U.S. dollars), the Xiamen-Kinmen Bridge (Xiamen section) will become the most efficient connection between the Xiamen island and the Xiang'an Airport. Once completed, it will ease traffic congestion and greatly enhance transport efficiency in the region.
The Xiamen-Kinmen Bridge (Xiamen section) started construction in October 2023, and is expected to be completed simultaneously with the Xiang'an Airport Expressway in 2026.
Kinmen is an important hub for interaction across the Taiwan Strait. Growing trade and commercial links between Kinmen and Xiamen have made the building of the bridge a common desire of many people in the region.
Xiamen-Kinmen Bridge enters marine construction stage
Senior representatives from major regional news media organizations, gathering at the ongoing 12th Global Video Media Forum (VMF) in China, say they are looking to amplify the voices of the media in the Global South to help consolidate cooperation and friendship in an ever more challenging global environment.
The forum opened in Quanzhou in east China's Fujian Province on Tuesday, bringing together 200 media representatives from over 60 countries and regions in the historic coastal city.
By working more closely together, media organizations in the Global South can reap rewards that might otherwise be unavailable, according to Ahmed Nadeem, Secretary-General of the Asia-Pacific Broadcast Union.
"If we work together, there is an opportunity for us to bring out the best from these Global South countries who have much less resources," he said.
Other media representatives at the VMF stressed that in challenging times, it is even more important for developing countries to have their voices heard on the global stage.
"[The Global] South media have a lot of responsibility to build a new opinion," said Issoufou Sare, Director-General of BF1 Television.
"[The media can provide] solutions for misunderstandings or stereotypes. So the media have a major role. They can bridge our cultures and make us know each other better," said Feten Fardi, head of Arab and International Cooperation Unit, Arab States Broadcasting Union.
The event also witnessed the launch of the "Global South Media Dialogue and Cooperation Mechanism and Joint Initiative," a program to support closer cooperation led by China Media Group.
"That will help to promote our voices, our realities to make the world know better about our customs, realities, about our history, about our culture, customs, about our problems, but also our achievements," said Martin Hacthoun, chief editor of Press Latina News Agency.
The two-day VMF is being held under the theme "Intelligence Without Frontiers, Vision Beyond The Horizon -- Media's Role in Communication and Cultural Exchange."
Launched by the CCTV Video News Agency (CCTV+) in 2011, the VMF is an annual professional journalism forum focusing on the latest trends and innovations in news and journalism, which provides a highly specialized, unique and interactive platform for domestic and foreign media peers.
Media groups aim to amplify voice of Global South at VMF
