THE Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a “remarkable” success story, Morning Star editor Ben Chacko told the Media Co-operation Dialogue in the Chinese city of Kunming today.

Speaking to a packed room in the Haigeng Convention Centre, Mr Chacko insisted that while the West peddles a negative narrative on the BRI, China was offering opportunities to the global South for “increased co-operation and development.”

Since the BRI is a “remarkable success story,” even in countries such as Britain that are not part of the initiative, the media should “disseminate positive stories more widely,” rather than go along with attempts to demonise China, he said.

Mr Chacko added that greater collaboration between news outlets “could begin by creating a resource for the sharing of photos that everyone could tap into.”

Charbal Barakat, of Kuwait’s al-Jarida newspaper, said: “The different media platforms must identify opportunities for sharing content” and also “amplify diverse voices across the media.”

Brazilian radio broadcaster Marcia Carini continued the theme of collaboration, saying that she wanted to see the BRI “develop a hub for sharing content and for journalists to meet each other and share challenges and opportunities.”

Patricia Lubba of the Nigerian Television Authority said it was important to find solutions to the challenges of “fragmented narratives, language diversity and the need to maintain high professional standards.”

Yusif Sharifzade, from Azerbaijan, said: “We need to help build bridges of understanding across nations by talking about the smaller stories of the BRI and not just the big projects.”

During a separate panel discussion on Dynamic China and the BRI, Rao Raheem, news editor at Pakistan’s Express Tribune, said: “China is building a model of modernisation that simply doesn’t mimic the West.

“They are not seeking validation from outside but instead drawing on its own heritage and blending the classical with the modern.

“China is presenting itself on its own terms,” he added.