SHANGHAI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th November, 2018) The Russian-Chinese cooperation and their strong positions at the media market make certain countries jealous, and as a result Russia and China often face unfair competition and attempts to bring their products into discredit, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Maxim Akimov said on Sunday at the IV Russian-Chinese Media Forum, currently underway in Shanghai.
Akimov said that leading Russian and Chinese media sources were shaping the agenda for over 1.5 million people across the world, as they had gained foothold in many countries. He added that this was not only something that Moscow and Beijing could be proud of, but also something that made many "partners and competitors" jealous.
"We very often face unfair competition, as well as attempts to limit and sometimes even ... forcefully suppress the distribution of high-quality and honest content, to bring our production into discredit, to accuse us of [spreading] propaganda and disinformation, and all of this becomes an excuse for depriving people living in very many countries across the world of an honest view, or, at least, of an alternative view," Akimov said.
According to him, these limitations prove that Russia and China are "influential players."
"Obviously, this makes those who have been monopolistically shaping the informational and the political agenda in the multipolar world over the past decades nervous," Akimov went on to say.
He added that Russia and China were engaged in an active and constructive dialogue on expanding Russian media access to the Chinese media market.
According to Alexey Volin, the Russian deputy minister of digital development, communications and mass media, Russia and China need to address the unfair competition by creating new channels to disseminate media content.
"If Twitter, YouTube or Facebook delete Russian and Chinese media from their media space, we will have to create new distribution channels and to think about alternative social networks and instant messengers," the official said.
The Russian-Chinese Media Forum is an annual event focusing on discussions of modern information technologies and new media. During this edition of the forum, an emphasis will be made on the cooperation between the two countries' thematic media resources, and the joint production of tv and video content.
