Beijig – A complex tapestry woven from centuries of tradition and modern innovation, China’s education system is attracting global attention.
One important catalyst for this growing interest is the China International Press Communications Centre (CIPCC), a media exchange program that provides a platform for international journalists to explore China’s educational environment.
Foreign journalists participating in the CIPCC initiative visited China Communications University (CUC) in Beijing on Wednesday morning.
Upon arriving at CUC, we were greeted with a warm welcome, observing the performances of the newly established Weifeng Gong and Drum team.
Zhongrui Chen, a master’s student in international journalism at CUC, said Weifeng Gong and Drum are traditional Chinese folk music art and one of China’s intangible cultural heritage. He added that it took place at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Asian Games in 1990.
He said the teachers and students have been practicing this Waifen Gong and drum work for more than two months.
During the tour, I had the opportunity to explore the CUC Media Museum, where I gained insight into the evolution of the Chinese media sector. Participants in the CIPCC Media Exchange program gained first-hand knowledge of the Chinese radio, television and film sectors, with a history spanning over a century.
We also visited Information Accessibility Lab, one of CUC’s major innovation labs. There, they were informed of a film initiative designed to support visually impaired individuals.
The university has launched a public welfare project – gaming movies, or bright English cinemas, produce films described as audio for the visually impaired.
The initiative incorporates visual scene descriptions along with dialogue and sound effects, transforming visual details into auditory cues to help visually impaired individuals understand the film.
The project began late 2017 and has been informed that since 2018, CUC teachers and student volunteers have produced more than 100 audio and described films each year.
Additionally, representatives from foreign media were provided with a deep understanding of Chinese history and attended a lecture presented by Professor Minsu Wu.
She worked on Chinese history dating back to 3,000 BC and used slides displayed on screen to demonstrate the evolution of the country’s education. She emphasized that education has helped reduce China’s progress and poverty.
The CUC visit was a component of CIPCC’s Media Exchange initiative for the first half of 2025. Last month, the CIPCC announced plans for the year. The 2025 program achieved a notable milestone by inviting more than 120 journalists from over 100 countries, setting a new record for the largest number of journalists invited since the plan began in 2014.