“Reference News Digital Edition University Tour” was held in the International Education Center at Shanghai International Studies University (SISU), Songjiang Campus on May 10. Zhou Xiaozheng, party committee secretary and president of Reference News, and his delegation presented the digital edition of Reference News to SISU and gave a public lecture on campus. Wang Jing, deputy party committee secretary of SISU, as well as heads of relevant departments and representatives of the faculty and students, attended the event.   

Wang introduced the overview of SISU and the cultivation of international communication talents. In recent years, with a focus on serving national strategic development, SISU has been implementing the “Multilingual+” Initiative, building a practice-based multi-dimensional system of global communication, and innovating the cultivation of the Z-generation talents through projects. In the future, SISU and Reference News will continue to strengthen the university-media cooperation in talent cultivation and join hands to promote mutual understanding and exchange between China and foreign countries. 

Zhou briefly reviewed the glorious history and tradition of Reference News and introduced its latest development in terms of the new media matrix, think tanks, etc. He believed that Reference News has the potential to further its cooperation with universities in promoting value education, disciplinary development especially on foreign languages and translation studies, and international communication.

During the roundtable, heads and teachers from the School of English Studies, the School of Marxism Studies, and the School of Journalism and Communication exchanged opinions on talent training, curriculum arrangement, and other areas with colleagues from Reference News and Xinhua News Agency Shanghai Bureau. They also discussed how to improve the quality and efficiency of teaching and research in universities with Reference News.

Pi Fanqian, director of the Office of CPC Publicity, held the roundtable. Heads of relevant departments, faculty and student representatives attended the roundtable.

On the same morning, a lecture on “Using Reference News in the Situation and Policy Classrooms” was held at the International Education Center. Chen Xiangyang, a senior editor of Reference News, conducted a special session to introduce its editorial features and illustrate the changing global landscape and China’s developmental trajectory by using selected articles as examples.

The students then had an in-depth exchange of views with Chen on various topics including how AI would affect translation and what the uniqueness of Reference News is compared with other newspapers.

Wang Mengyuan, a sophomore student from the School of Business and Management, saw the digital transformation of paper media through the lecture. “In response to the New Era, Reference News keeps up with the fast-paced and networked access to information. What’s more, it remains quality-oriented, delivering accurate and trustworthy information to the public, and unfolding to the readers both a glimpse of the world and its view on China.”

Chen Yanqi, a graduate student from the School of Journalism and Communication, said that Reference News provided her with unique perspectives to understand the world and enabled her to keep pace with global dynamics and broaden her international exposure. As a student majoring in Journalism and Communications, she would also undertake the responsibility to enhance comprehensive quality, professional competence, and news acumen so as to make the voice of China better heard.

Kong Xiangrui, deputy director of the “China and the World” Curriculum Centre in the School of Marxism Studies, hosted the lecture. Faculty and student representatives attended the lecture.