Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition
Pictured here is Liang Manyu (right) interviewing a Greek youth who teaches coffee culture in China. (Courtesy of the interviewee)
As an important group that tells The story of China to the world, overseas Chinese matchmakers are both recorders and witnesses. While showing China's rapid development to the outside world, they have also witnessed the quiet changes in China in the eyes of the world.
Liang Manyu, editor-in-chief of Greece's Xihua News, is such a Chinese matchmaker. When she first went abroad 19 years ago, she was confronted with the ironic question of foreign friends: "Do you have a TV set at home Chinese?" Now, she proudly says, such a question will never happen again, and what Greek friends want to know more is: "Why can China?" ”
Here's her statement.
The media builds bridges of communication
When I first arrived in Athens, Greece, in 2002, I could barely see Chinese. Many Greeks are curious about China, but most of their knowledge of China is superficial, often only knowing that China is an ancient civilization with a long history.
There is a little story that impressed me. Around 2003, I studied Greek at the American Academy in Greece, and I often went to a bookstore next to the school to buy books after class. Bookstore owners are particularly interested in China. Every time I went, he would pull me along and ask a lot of questions about China. At one point, he asked me, "Do you Chinese have a TV set at home?" "I was very surprised to hear how ignorant the Greek people were about China.
Later, in my exchanges with bookstore owners and other Greek friends, I found that the Greek people had few channels to understand China. For example, bookstore owners mainly channel movies about China on TELEVISION.
The successful hosting of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games has provided an important opportunity for the Chinese and Greek peoples to enhance exchanges. Through a large number of news reports in the media of the two countries, the people of the two countries have a deeper understanding of China and Greece.
That's when I got the idea to work in the media industry. Because I deeply feel that the media can build a bridge of communication between China and Greece.
In 2012, I officially started journalism. At first, I mainly contributed to the Chinese domestic media, and then served as the executive editor of the local Chinese-language media "Sino-Greek Times", and the content of the report was mainly to introduce the local situation in Greece to Chinese readers and Greek overseas Chinese.
Gradually, I found an interesting phenomenon, many of my media peers in Greece and university scholars often contacted me to learn about China's development. In particular, in the three years from 2013 to 2015, Greece was mired in an economic crisis. Local media and scholars want to know through the Chinese media about China's economic development, especially whether Chinese companies are likely to invest in Greece to provide a boost to the local economic development. This is closely related to China's growing strength and international influence as the world's second largest economy.
Based on this, in 2017, my career ushered in a transformation. I co-founded Xihua Times with a Greek friend, which mainly uses new media platforms to introduce China to Greek and global readers through multilingual Chinese, English, Spanish, Russian and other languages.
The hearts of the people of the two countries are getting closer and closer
Over the years, while engaging in news reporting, I have witnessed the increasingly close exchanges and cooperation between China and Greece. In particular, since China and Greece signed a memorandum of understanding on jointly building the "Belt and Road" cooperation, the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has entered a new stage, and more and more Chinese enterprises have come to Greece, bringing tangible benefits to the local economic development and people's lives.
In 2019, I travelled to the outskirts of Arisandroupolis in the Thrace region of northeastern Greece to cover the operation of the Occañas wind farm acquired by China's National Energy Group. I was shocked by that interview.
In 2017, the National Energy Group signed an agreement with the Greek energy giant Corperuzos Group to acquire a 75% interest in its four wind farms. Since then, the Greek wind power sector has opened its doors to investment in Chinese companies. The Occañas Wind Farm is one of the four wind farms, located in the alpine region of the Greek border, where there is heavy fog all year round, there are no decent roads, and the conditions are very difficult. But it is in such a remote place that the overseas personnel of Chinese enterprises still stick to their posts.
I learned in interviews that companies donate 2% of their income to local governments for municipal construction every year, and 1% of their income to local villagers to pay for electricity, while providing a large number of jobs for local residents during both construction and operation. This series of measures has positive significance for improving local people's livelihood and promoting the development of green economy. At that time, many Greek employees at the scene talked to me about their work experience in Chinese companies, and they were full of pride. Many of them have also studied Chinese in order to better integrate into the work environment.
This reminds me of similar observations I had previously interviewed in the port of Piraeus. As a model for China and Greece to jointly build the "Belt and Road", COSCO SHIPPING Group has also absorbed a large number of Greek employees and set off a wave of learning Chinese with the investment and construction of the port of Reyves. In the port of Piraeus, I met several Greek employees who Chinese good.
Today, not only are Greek employees working in Chinese companies keen to learn Chinese, but many Greek primary and secondary school after-school cram schools also offer Chinese courses. As Sino-Greek economic and trade cooperation has become closer and closer, the hearts of the people of the two countries have become closer and closer.
The Chinese story is vivid and exciting
My Greek partner once lamented, "The Chinese market is too big and attractive!" This is an important reason why he is willing to participate in the creation of a media outlet that mainly covers China, and it also represents the voice of more and more Greek people. In fact, for the Greek people, it is not only the vast Chinese market that is attractive, but also China's world-renowned development achievements and the valuable experience behind them.
Recently, my local media counterparts and I are getting ready for another big news. On October 18, the Olympic flame lighting ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics will be held at the site of ancient Olympia in Greece. In this regard, the Greek media and the public are particularly concerned, not only because the Beijing Winter Olympics is an important international sports event, but also because in the special context of the spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic around the world, China can effectively prevent and control the epidemic and steadily promote the preparations for the Winter Olympics. In the early interviews, many Greek readers told me that they felt that China's epidemic prevention measures were very successful and hoped to learn more about China's epidemic prevention experience.
Today, compared with nearly 20 years ago, the Greek people's change in China is all-round and earth-shaking. Now, many of my Greek friends use Chinese-made mobile phones, and they are used to using cross-border e-commerce platforms built by Chinese companies for usual shopping. In the past 20 years, China's economy has developed rapidly, especially the level of scientific and technological innovation. High-quality electronic products from China and convenient online shopping platforms have given the Greek people a new look. Today, they will never be able to ask me the questions that the bookstore owner asked me.
In fact, not to mention the Greek people, even I myself often sigh secretly because of China's development achievements: "Eye-opening!"
In 2018, I returned to China to participate in the Overseas Chinese New Media Summit Forum. During the meeting, I visited the main venue of the Hangzhou G20 Summit. Although I have seen the pictures and videos of the grand occasion of the G20 Summit in Hangzhou before, standing in the main venue, I am still involuntarily deeply shocked by the grandeur of the scene and have a more personal experience of the style of a big country. That visit made me feel The big pattern and wisdom of China, and I was also proud of China's rapid development.
In the past, China's economy, technology and culture were the most concerned topics for the Greek people, and they were also the three major sectors of our reporting. Today, all aspects of China's development have made the Greek people curious. I will also continue to contribute to telling more vivid and exciting Chinese stories to international readers.