BEIJING — Participants of the first Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) media summit are confident that the event will enhance media cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between SCO member states.

With a theme of “carrying on the ‘Shanghai Spirit’ and ushering a new era for media cooperation,” the summit, which opened on June 1, attracted over 260 attendees who exchanged ideas on building new platforms of media cooperation and closer people-to-people ties.

Ainura Temirbekova, Deputy Minister of Culture, Information and Tourism of Kyrgyzstan, said that Kyrgyzstan supports China’s initiative to deepen media cooperation.

“The SCO has become a big family after 17 years of development, and to communicate the voice of SCO is the media’s responsibility. We should build and share an information network together,” she noted.

In her opinion, it is very important for media workers to conduct face-to-face exchanges to better understand each other. She hoped that this type of exchanges can be normalized and institutionalized on the platform of SCO media summit and eventually benefit the people of the SCO member states.

Sarmad Ali, managing director of Pakistan’s Jang Media Group, held that this summit helps to create people-to-people connectivity and provides a platform for the media outlets and organizations in SCO countries to cooperate with each other and create a positive and inclusive environment among the nations.

Karin Erian, Chairman of the Board of Kazakhstan Republican TV and Radio Corporation, said that the exchanges between media are also exchanges in information and knowledge, and it is bound to facilitate exchanges and cooperation in a wide range of areas such as economy, science and technology.

“The media summit coming ahead of the leaders’ summit on June 9 and 10 is a very good setting for us to know the good work being done in China as well as other member countries and their commitment toward cooperation in various areas,” said Priyanka Tikoo, Deputy Executive Editor of Press Trust of India.

The member states are really keen to take forward their cooperation at the regional level in areas such as trade, culture, health and education, and the stories are being communicated to the respective countries by media, so media plays a crucial role in promoting closer friendship and cooperation, she added.