Xinhua launches English-language news app

Xinhua News Agency President Cai Mingzhao, Editor-in-chief of Xinhua News Agency He Ping, Deputy Head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Tuo Zhen, Deputy Director of the Cyberspace Administration of China Gao Xiang and Wang Yibiao, deputy editor-in-chief of People's Daily, attend the launching ceremony of Xinhua's English-language mobile portal in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 23, 2018. China's state-run Xinhua News Agency Tuesday launched an English-language mobile portal, the Xinhua News App, combining the agency's reporting strength with the latest digital technology. (Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)

China's state-run Xinhua News Agency Tuesday launched an English-language mobile portal, the Xinhua News App, combining the agency's reporting strength with the latest digital technology.

The app will "connect China to the world" and update users with round-the-clock reporting, telling China's stories and reporting world affairs in a comprehensive, timely and objective way, Xinhua President Cai Mingzhao said at the launch ceremony.

The app, available on both iOS and Android devices, uses artificial intelligence to enable more precise news service recommendations. It is China's first mainstream media app to offer users an intelligent recommendation service.

SMART

Cai said a key feature of the app was "intelligence."

"The application of technology such as intelligent information collection, user analysis, image recognition, and voice synthesis will make the app an intelligent platform," he said.

Xinhua is the first of China's state media outlets to create a "media brain," an intelligent news gathering and editing system which integrates cloud computing, the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, Cai said.

The agency will also build a database of English information which, through big data, can identify user demand and adapt to their interests more precisely.

"By doing so, we will realize individualized and customized information delivery. We will also improve our services based on user feedback to give them access to a better experience," Cai said.

STRONG PEDIGREE

The app was launched at a time when Xinhua is building a more efficient global system for news gathering, editing and release.

The news agency was established on Nov. 7, 1931 as the Red China News Agency, changing to its current name in 1937. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Xinhua became the state news agency.

Today, it has more than 230 branches and more than 3,000 journalists across China and around the world, providing more than 60,000 subscribers with over 6,800 news reports every day in Chinese, English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Portuguese and Japanese, among other languages.

Xinhua's Chinese-language news app was launched three years ago and has since been downloaded more than 270 million times, according to Cai.

"We will further improve the quality of our reports, optimize the structure of our news content and enhance our ability to provide all-media news," he said. "As China's largest all-media organization and an influential global news agency, Xinhua will provide the app with a strong pedigree."

WINDOW ON CHINA

The Xinhua president also explained the agency's reporting principles at the launch ceremony attended by Tuo Zhen, deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and Gao Xiang, deputy director of the Cyberspace Administration of China.

"We uphold the journalistic principles of being true and comprehensive, objective and balanced, fair and just, promoting progress, putting people first, and cherishing a global vision," Cai said.

He said the set of principles was winning wider recognition in the international community.

As Xinhua serves as China's state news agency, Cai said, the app will also be an important channel for people overseas to learn about China and Chinese perspectives.

The app updates users with round-the-clock reporting, relays the activities of President Xi Jinping, and covers Chinese and world news in a comprehensive, timely and objective way, Cai said.

"China has never been so close to the center of the world stage and a drastically changing world is increasingly keen to know more about China," said a Xinhua press release.

A key mission of the app, it said, is to introduce Chinese experiences, expound Chinese proposals, offer Chinese solutions, and share Chinese wisdom and opportunities with the rest of the world.

"The Xinhua News App is your 'Window on China'," it said.

Editor: Wang Shixue