Casablanca, Morocco - Oct 21, 2019 (2MTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of signing ceremony in progress
2. Signboard reading "ALU"
3. Various of Gao Wei, managing director and editor-in-chief of CCTV Video News Agency (CCTV+) speaking; attendees
4. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Gao Wei, managing director and editor-in-chief, CCTV Video News Agency (CCTV+)
"The ALU is a news content cooperation platform jointly built by CCTV+ and our partner media organizations in Africa. Since 2016 we have held the ALU Council Meeting annual for four years. We hope to integrate and share news resources through cooperation in news content between Chinese and African media. We should work together to build a better mechanism for exchange and cooperation between the two sides for mutual benefits."
5. Hamid Saadani, deputy director of News Department of 2M TV, speaking
6. Signboard reading "2M, ALU"
7. Saadani speaking
8. Attendees
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hamid Saadani, deputy director of News Department of 2M TV:
"This Africa Link Union has transformed the China-Africa channels into a network of television and reportage exchanges automatically so that any channel, for example, Morocco's channel, can show reports about Morocco in 26 countries and China and vice versa. Now we can follow what is going on in Africa through these reports we find every day."
10. Attendees posing for group photo

CCTV Video News Agency (CCTV+) signed agreements with three more African media outlets on Monday to provide them news services within the framework of Africa Link Union (ALU) which has members from 29 mainstream media organizations in 26 African countries.

The signing ceremony for Today Africa, a program of tailored world and China news packages produced by CCTV+, was held on the same day, adding five more broadcasters to the program.

The ceremony was held during the 4th Africa Link Union (ALU) Council Meeting in Casablanca, Morocco, co-hosted by CCTV+ and 2M TV, the first state-owned public TV station in Morocco. Media representatives and experts from 15 African and Chinese media organizations attended the meeting.

"The ALU is a news content cooperation platform jointly built by CCTV+ and our partner media organizations in Africa. Since 2016 we have held the ALU Council Meeting annual for four years. We hope to integrate and share news resources through cooperation in news content between Chinese and African media. We should work together to build a better mechanism for exchange and cooperation between the two sides for mutual benefits," said Gao Wei, managing director and editor-in-chief of CCTV+.

As a co-organizer, Cheikh Salim, general manager of 2M TV, placed expectations on ALU members to take full advantage of this opportunity and strive for achievements in improving the ALU cooperation mechanism and promoting common progress for its members.

"This Africa Link Union has transformed the China-Africa channels into a network of television and reportage exchanges automatically so that any channel, for example, Morocco's channel, can show reports about Morocco in 26 countries and China and vice versa. Now we can follow what is going on in Africa through these reports that we find every day," said Hamid Saadani, deputy director of News Department of 2M TV.

In his keynote speech, Khalid Moustaphaoui, chief editor of 2M TV, pointed out that for centuries, Western media have always had a negative attitude and perspective in their reports on the African continent, and labeled Africa with war, poverty, disease and other issues, which could even be biased and seriously misleading. The globalization process of African media has gone through many difficulties. In this process, China has greatly supported African media by offering them many opportunities for development. He said he and his colleagues will work together to consolidate and strengthen cooperation between Chinese and African media.

Hamid Saadani, deputy director of 2M's news department, said that the ALU has given them more confidence and more ways. He hopes ALU members will work harder and better to report more and share their news contents.

Elwaleed Mustafa, an ALU African media representative, said the ALU Council Meeting and annual meeting set to be held in Africa would enable all members to enjoy the achievements of ALU's common development.

Lamin Kanteh, another ALU African media representative, said he was happy to see the ALU spreading Africa's stories to the world through Africa's own perspective and approach.

Mahamoud Salim, another ALU African media representative, said he hoped that the ALU will provide more training opportunities for the media.

The delegates also put forward concrete proposals on strengthening ALU cooperation.

Driven by the ALU, CCTV+ has become a significant source of news content for African media outlets over the past year. Last year, CCTV+ provided more than 20,000 news stories on China and the world, with stories in English, Arabic and French. And ALU members have uploaded more than 2,000 pieces of African news materials through the ALU mechanism.

CCTV+ is China's first and leading video news agency. It offers news products and services to professional media organizations around the globe, via its online Global Distribution System (www.cctvplus.com) and works in cooperation with world-leading distributors of professional news content.

The ALU was initiated by CCTV+ and media organizations across Africa in June 2016, aiming to promote media cooperation and exchanges between China and Africa, and boost global communication of African news content.