Dim Sum TV

2 September 2008

"30 Years of Hong Kong-Guangdong Cooperation":
A Regional Media Event

In commemoration of the 30th anniversary of reform and opening-up, six mainstream media outlets from Guangdong and Hong Kong gathered on September 2nd in Guangzhou to announce a group media project, “30 Years of Hong Kong-Guangdong Cooperation.” The six participating media outlets—Nan Fang Daily, Southern Television Guangdong (TVS), Hong Kong Wen Wei Po Daily News, Dim Sum Television, Radio Television Hong Kong and Hong Kong Bauhinia Magazine—will take this opportunity to explore the history and the future of Guangdong-Hong Kong cooperation since China’s opening up to the world. Each outlet will explore the many various issues stemming from this topic from their own unique viewpoint, and across the many different mediums they publish and broadcast in.

Representative from the six participating media outlets from Guangdong and Hong Kong, from left to right: President of Southern Television Guangdong, Mr. Ou Nianzhong; President of Hong Kong Wen Wei Po Daily News, Mr. Zhang Guoliang; President of Nan Fang Daily, Mr Yang Xingfeng; Director & Chief Executive Officer of Dim Sum Television, Mr. Kit Szeto; President of Bauhinia Magazine, Mr.Liu Weizhong; and Director of Broadcasting of Radio Television Hong Kong, Mr. Franklin Wong.

Many industry and political leaders attended the event. Besides the directors of the six media outlets involved, several senior mainland officials attended as well, including: Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Guangdong Committee and Director General of the Publicity Department of the CPC Guangdong Committee, Mr. Lin Xiong. In addition, senior officials from many other departments were in attendance, including: the Publicity Department of Guangdong Provincial Committee; the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the People’s Government of Guangdong Province; the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the People’s Government of Guangdong Province; the Department of Civil Affairs of the People’s Government of the Guangdong Province; the Administration of Radio, Film and Television of Guangdong Province; and the Information Office of the People’s Government of Guangdong Province; the Southern Media Corporation. Twenty-one members of the Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department and the Government’s Information Office were also in attendance at the launch ceremony.

The lavish launch ceremony is just the beginning of the media event. The six participating media companies then began working together to apply their own unique advantages toward creating a comprehensive resource-sharing platform to report on the many varied aspects of China’s economic reforms, and how they have affected the region specifically. The outlets will focus specifically on the cooperation between Guangdong and Hong Kong throughout the last few decades and explore what lies ahead for future cooperation. By February next year, the pan-media panel will assemble their reporting into a book, which will be launched in Hong Kong.

Dim Sum TV’s role in the project is to analyze the current developments in the Greater Pearl River Delta region from the differing perspectives of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, focusing specifically on social and economic development. Dim Sum TV will launch a series of 160 episodes of three mini-programs, called “Steps through time” which will include stories from entrepreneurs, students and other ordinary citizens. Eleven longer programs will also be put together, focusing on the perspective of the common man, and what exactly the 30 years of trade and social development has meant to him.

Director and Chief Executive Officer of Dim Sum TV, Mr. Kit Szeto, delivers a speech during the ceremony.

Dim Sum TV Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Kit Szeto, had a lot of good to say about the project during the opening ceremony: "This series of programs, and the additional reporting series from the five other media outlets, will form a multi-faceted and comprehensive report on the state of development in the Pearl River Delta. From the beginning of September until the end of the year, we will broadcast our findings to every corner of the Delta region. The six participating Hong Kong and Guangdong media outlets are coming together not just to record the memories of the past 30 years, but to also prepare for the future. By looking through the lens of history, we can be better able to analyze our future and lay a more solid foundation for what comes next in our journey. Dim Sum TV itself is a result of the cooperation between Guangdong and Hong Kong, and we will live up to our promise to become a platform for the greater Pearl River Delta Region, covering every step of development, at the same time becoming a window to the world.”