Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday sent a congratulatory message to the first board meeting of the "Belt and Road" (B&R) News Alliance which kick-started on the same day.
Xi highly praised the "constructive role" that the media played in the process of building up the B&R partner network in the past years, saying the News Alliance has provided media from various countries a platform to cooperate.
He said media organizations should promote cultural and people-to-people exchanges among countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.
The News Alliance will be the platform for cooperation and exchange between media organizations, and such communication will be an instrument to facilitate cooperation and increase mutual understanding, he noted.