An Egyptian reader selects books on China at the China Culture Center in Cairo, Egypt on April 22 (XINHUA)

As the media is one of the essential tools to cement bonds between peoples, Egypt's State Information Service (SIS) signed cooperation protocols with a number of Chinese media institutions to promote ties between the two countries in this area in 2016. These protocols now include an SIS online portal in Chinese language launched in April this year that will feature information and news to keep the public informed about important issues in Africa and China, as well as the cooperation among them.

SIS is Egypt's official media and public relations organ responsible for regulating the affairs of foreign press and media correspondents in Egypt.

According to Abdul Moti Abu Zeid, Chairman of the Foreign Media Sector at SIS, Egypt-China collaboration in media comes at a time when both sides need to safeguard their interests against the background of the flood of misinformation and fake news disseminated daily. Accurate information is essential for deepening cooperation. Hence media outlets of both countries have the responsibility to report authentic stories coming from official sources to counter the scourge of fake news.

"The prime objective of SIS is to provide foreign reporters and journalists with official news pertaining to Egypt's stance on international and regional issues, and its relationship with the world. [When it comes to cooperation], China is one of the most important countries for Egypt, [especially] after the momentum of ties between the two countries in many spheres [grew] over the past five years," Zeid told ChinAfrica. "Definitely, media is essential for this cooperation. SIS [therefore] signed some protocols to enhance the partnership with the Chinese side in this respect."

He noted that the protocols are mainly in areas such as internships, staff exchange visits and facilitating Chinese journalists to cover news about Egypt, and vice versa.

Hossam Amin, Manager of Media Exchange and Foreign Relations at SIS, said there was a protocol signed with the All-China Journalists Association in 2016 to share experiences and present a positive image of both nations to the world. In addition, Amin said it was agreed to supply journalists with official news and statements to combat the misinformation reported in some Western media.

SIS website initiative

In 2016, SIS signed a memorandum of understanding with the State Council Information Office of China to conduct research and studies on the tripartite cooperation among Egypt, China, and the rest of Africa, according to a statement released by SIS.

Since Egypt assumed the chair of African Union (AU) in 2019, SIS has sought to find ways to communicate with other countries on the African continent. The recently launched website - Egypt and Africa - will gather news from a variety of newspapers to reach out to the people of the continent.

"SIS signed a protocol with [China's] Xinhua News Agency to put the URL link of the two institutions on the home pages of both websites to attract more visitors," said Zeid, adding that this kind of cooperation helps SIS increase the number of its readers and takes advantage of Xinhua's reach of a total readership of more than 120 million globally. Besides, this cooperation will help provide Africans with authentic news without distortion or misinterpretation, which could otherwise sour the triple relationship (Egypt, China and the rest part of Africa), said Zeid.

Egypt has historic bonds on the continent since the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser assisted the liberation movements in some African countries such as Somalia, Kenya, Ghana and Algeria. Having taken up office in 2014, President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi paid attention to revitalizing relations with other African countries in the areas of economy, trade, tourism, and education. He noted that during his chairmanship of the AU, he will work with other member states on bolstering peace in some conflict zones on the continent and push ahead with trade, infrastructure, and sustainable development as core elements of the AU's Agenda 2063.

Since Sino-Egyptian ties were elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership in many areas, SIS has worked in tandem with the state's policy on cultivating relations with China. One example of this is the recent addition of Chinese among the languages of its websites to address the readers in China.

"Egypt is the first country in Africa to translate daily news about the continent into Chinese. We aim to communicate with readers in China to help them know more about [topics such as] tourist destinations, history, culture, and investments opportunities, in Africa," said Marwa Ragheb, Managing Editor of the Egypt and Africa website.

The Chinese section of SIS websites employs the services of translators who have studied Chinese at Egyptian universities to work 24/7 to supply the websites with professional news content.

"In addition to them, we hired three professors from the Confucius Institute [in Cairo] to help us with translations. We welcome any Chinese who speak Arabic and live in Egypt to [assist us to] revise our products," said Ragheb.

Book division

Besides presenting media services, SIS also translates books and other publications into Chinese.

"In 2015, we translated a book titled Chinese-Egyptian Relations Over 60 Years into Chinese in conjunction with Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Cairo in 2016. We are now developing the content to include the latest mutual cooperation between the two countries," Ragheb added.

Since 2016, mutual visits of media personnel to Beijing and Cairo have been arranged within the framework of media cooperation. Under the auspices of SIS, a delegation from the Shanghai Journalists Association was invited for a three-day visit to SIS in 2016. They paid another visit to Al-Ahram and Al-Gomhuria newspapers and the Middle East News Agency in April this year in order to improve communication among journalists. In addition, a group from the All-China Journalists Association came to Cairo and met with Diaa Rashwan, Chairman of SIS, in April. Conversely, two employees of SIS' foreign media section took part in a workshop hosted by the Shanghai Journalists Association within the framework this year.

SIS is currently drawing up future plans to cooperate more fully with the Xinhua News Agency to feed SIS's websites with news of mutual concern in Chinese. The plans also include translating more of its publications into Chinese and promoting them in Chinese media.

(Reporting from Egypt)

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