Media from BRICS countries should beef up cooperation to help with information sharing among the five emerging nations, a top leader said on Monday.

Liu Yunshan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks when meeting representatives attending the first BRICS Media Summit slated for Tuesday in Beijing.

Leaders of 25 media groups from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will attend the meeting, which will be hosted by Xinhua News Agency.

"I hope media from BRICS countries beef up communication and cooperation, and build up a bridge to share information and link the hearts of the people, which can help boost the development of the BRICS partnership," Liu said.

With the theme of "Innovation, Development, Cooperation and Trust", the first BRICS media summit will focus on topics such as the media's role in promoting closer international partnerships and deepening BRICS media exchanges and cooperation.

Cai Mingzhao, president of Xinhua, said at a presidium conference of the BRICS Media Summit held on Monday that cooperation among BRICS countries included politics, economics, culture and trade.

It will not only benefit the media industry, but also provide a fine media environment for the five countries, he said.

Cai proposed to his BRICS counterparts to establish the BRICS Media Summit Liaison Office and the BRICS Media Summit Fund. He also called for a media award opened to BRICS media, as well as training programs and exchange activities of BRICS journalists.

Pavel Andreev, deputy editor-in-chief of international information agency Rossiya Segodnya, emphasized the importance of such a cooperation mechanism.

He said Russia had already organized journalist exchanges and training last month in Moscow, in which more than 20 young journalists from BRICS countries participated.

Andre Barbosa, executive director for external relations at Brazil's state-owned radio and TV operator EBC, told Xinhua ahead of the summit that media outlets from BRICS countries must foster initiatives to break Western hegemony in news reporting.

There was awareness back in the 1950s that the developed countries have dominated global news reporting, Barbosa said, adding that the only way to change this situation is to "create an economic bloc with a united press industry to counter the Western dominance".

Contact the writers through lixiaokun@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 12/01/2015 page6)