All the speeches expressed high praise for China Hoy’s great contribution to exchanges and understanding between China and Latin America over those 50 years, and wished for the magazine to go from strength to strength.
China and Latin America are separated by a great physical distance, and also in terms of social systems, cultural traditions and natural conditions. Cooperation started relatively late but has developed rapidly as the result of globalization. Since the start of China’s reform and opening-up in the late 1970s, China has maintained a closer relationship with the hispanophone world, with Latin America in particular. More and more countries have established diplomatic ties with China and bilateral cooperation in politics, economy and culture is increasingly frequent. The role of China Hoy in linking China and Latin America has become ever more important.
Cuba’s Ambassador to China Carlos Miguel Pereira Hernández congratulated the magazine: “One thing we cannot overlook is that these 50 years have proven you are a serious and objective media organ dedicated to spreading the truth to the world. I also want to affirm the contribution you have made to China-Cuba relations. We are glad to see that China Hoy, right from the beginning, has established a special connection with Cuba. Therefore we can celebrate two 50th anniversaries this year – the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries, and the first issue of China Hoy. I believe this moment will help bring our friendship and cooperation even closer.”
In describing the magazine’s effect over the last 50 years, Guo Xiaoyong, deputy president of CIPG, compared it with the “Well of the Antipodes” at the Chile Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo. Looking down into the well, people could see scenes of Latin America and Chilean people sending warm greetings.
“Latin America and China are at precisely opposite ends of the earth. If you were to dig a well in China and keep on going, it would go through the earth’s core and emerge in Latin America. The “Well of the Antipodes” used video and Internet technologies to show Chile to Chinese people. Over the last half-century China Hoy has been a sort of Chinese version of that, dedicated to reporting Chinese society, culture, economy, bilateral and multilateral relations. It has created a bridge of friendship and understanding between the peoples of China and Latin America.”
China Hoy seeks out the commonalties and similarities between China and Latin America in terms of history, ethnic composition and culture. It tries to stimulate readers’ interest, in the interest of strengthening mutual understanding. The magazine got physically much closer to its readership with the opening, in October 2004 in Mexico City, of China Hoy’s Latin America office, a part of a project to localize the journal.
Since that time China Hoy has been edited, designed, printed and distributed from Mexico, a move that has made possible a shorter production cycle with more up-to-date reportage and has brought the magazine closer to its readers.
The Latin America Office was the first Chinese magazine overseas office established. Since then, many outstanding local writers and successful distributors have joined the China Hoy network, and directly participate in content selection, design and promotion.
The result has been a much closer connection with readers in Latin America. “It has been my honor to witness the achievements of China Hoy in Mexico,” said Alfredo Miranda, Mexican minister counselor to China. “I have seen this magazine not only in government officials’ offices, but on many newsstands in Mexico. I see that you have made a great effort in the development of China-Mexico relations.”
China Hoy has also expanded its influence in Central and South America since 2004. In the past six years subscriber numbers have increased 100-fold. It has also established relations of trust and cooperation with research institutes, media, businesses and readers in Latin America.
President of China Today Gong Xi-xiang told the gathering: “We decided to print China Hoy in Peru last year. Now we print in Beijing, Mexico and Peru, and our distribution system covers all Spanish-speaking countries. The journal is now much more reader-focused and topical. It marks a new chapter in the friendship and cooperation between China and the people of Latin American countries.”
In January 2010 the Peru edition of China Hoy was formally established. “I congratulate the excellent work of China Hoy,” wrote Peru’s President Alan García in his congratulatory letter. “I acknowledge that this magazine is a vehicle for reporting major issues between China and Latin America, between China and Peru especially.”
In addition to its publication, China Hoy works in other ways to promote friendship. In the center of Mexico City stands a huge clock donated by Chinese migrants about 100 years ago. The China Clock is an historical witness to China-Latin America friendship. This September, to mark the 200th anniversary of Mexican Independence, China Today made a donation to repair the clock. Gong Xixiang announced: “When the bell rings out again, it is a symbol of generations of friendship between China and Latin America, and a reminder of the responsibility we now carry.”
To promote world peace and progress, to report Chinese economy and society, to better meet readers’ needs, and to maintain a better understanding between China and the rest of the world is what China Today seeks. The magazine will act as a “Well of the Antipodes,” enabling people to look into the world of friends on the opposite side of the globe.
