The 2nd Seminar on the Security Situation in the Gulf of Guinea commenced in Shanghai on Wednesday, gathering delegates from the navies of China and 18 Gulf of Guinea countries to discuss maritime security.
The seminar is held from Tuesday to Friday to implement the consensus reached at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, as well as to build an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era, and a maritime community with a shared future.
The event seeks to deepen China-Africa friendly cooperation, jointly address maritime security threats and challenges, and safeguard regional peace and stability.
"This seminar is of great significance to our maritime security situation. All countries in our region will be participants in this seminar and the maritime region. At the invitation of China, we will take this opportunity to think about our maritime measures and make our own contributions," said N'Guessan Celestin, Ivorian Chief of Staff of the National Navy.
"Security is a common challenge for the navies of all countries in the Gulf of Guinea. We can address these security issues through collaboration and mutual support," said Mamadou Yaya Diallo, Chief of Staff of Guinea Navy.
In recent years, guided by the vision of a China-Africa community with a shared future and a maritime community of shared destiny, China's navy and the maritime forces of African countries, including those in the Gulf of Guinea, have embraced principles of equality, mutual benefit, and sincerity. This commitment has fostered close exchanges and cooperation, resulting in a series of fruitful outcomes.
"Currently, our cooperation with the navies of the Gulf of Guinea countries primarily includes the visit of the Chinese hospital ship Peace Ark, exchanges of visits between ships, including the docking of our escort formation in the Gulf of Guinea countries in Africa, and student exchanges. There are many avenues for cooperation. Five officers trained by our college are attending this seminar. The exchange of talent is the most extensive and promising aspect of our collaboration," said Wang Pei, a staff member of the Naval Command College.
The first edition of seminar was held in 2022 via video link.
Seminar on Security Situation in Gulf of Guinea opens in Shanghai
An European media industry leader highlighted the transformative influence of artificial intelligence (AI) on the industry, stressing the importance of exchange and cooperation among global media outlets.
The 12th Global Video Media Forum (VMF) opened in Quanzhou City on Tuesday. The two-day event has brought together around 200 representatives from mainstream media and international organizations across more than 60 countries and regions to the historic coastal city under the theme "Intelligence Without Frontiers, Vision Beyond The Horizon - Media's Role in Communication and Cultural Exchange."
In a sidelines interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Adrian Wells, Managing Director of the European News Exchange, a global news provider, shared his insights on how embracing AI and fostering media cooperation can further improve the industry.
"In the professional broadcast and digital industry, we have enough intelligence to know that we have to embrace this technology. We have to take the best parts of it. We have to integrate it with what we already have, our experience, our professionalism, admission for our consumers. Actually, media is in a very challenging environment now. We do have a lot of threats to our traditional ways of going about things. We have to use these new technologies like AI in order to transform ourselves. And we really have to be at the forefront of embracing it, not resisting it," Wells said.
Wells also suggested that media organizations can improve by learning from their counterparts, adapting successful strategies, and incorporating solutions from different environments to enhance their own operations.
"How do we really go about finding those right choices? It's by looking at what everyone else is doing, taking the best of how different organizations are using new technologies, adapting their business models, trying to reach consumers in a different way. And really cherry-picking the best examples, the best use cases across the industry to try and reimagine what we're doing in our own environments, whether it's in China, in the United Kingdom, in the United States or in any European country. Look across the industry who is doing what, how are they solving some of these problems and use that as a kind of nice salad mixture to try and find the solutions in your own newsroom organization," he said.
In addition, Wells highlighted the forum's positive role in promoting global media exchange and collaboration.
"I think that if you ask anyone about cooperation and collaboration, everyone's for it, right? It's a no-brainer. Of course, we want to collaborate. We want to cooperate. But actually, when you come to collaborating and cooperating, it's actually a bit of a pain as well, because you got to devote time for reaching out, to be aware of what other industries are doing, what your colleagues are doing across the industry," Wells said.
So, I think the good thing about this forum is that we're in an environment now where we can mix, you've got a lot of different people from news organizations, from different parts of the world that have got different ideas. And I think we all learn a lot from hearing about different experiences across the world, and really trying to sort of create some of these ties. Otherwise, if we don't make that effort, they just won't be there," said the industry insider.
European media professional highlights AI power, global exchange in industry
