Telling Stories of China Vividly in English
Founded on October 1, 1999, Shanghai Daily was the first color English newspaper in Mainland China. It reports mainly news about Shanghai and China and aims to address the reading habits and interests of foreigners. Over nearly 20 years, it has become an important channel for foreign readers to know more about China and Shanghai and has established itself as the most influential English media brand in mainland China.
Picture: Shanghai Daily
In 2017, while maintaining its printed newspapers, Shanghai Daily launched SHINE, an English language media outreach platform for international mainstream audiences. Its aim is to create a new brand of international communication that bears the unique mark of Shanghai and to build Shanghai Daily into a trusted and lively media channel for mainstream audience overseas, especially the young, helping them to understand and engage with China and Shanghai.
Shanghai Daily emphasizes current affairs both in China and across the world and tells authentic Chinese stories in an engaging style of English. Recently, during an interview conducted by its comment department with an ordinary Japanese reader, it became apparent that a reader’s grandfather had been a subscriber to People's Daily for many years and has favorable feelings towards China. After the article was published on SHINE, it drew great attention from the relevant departments of Fukuoka, Japan, who sent a thank-you letter to the commentator, expressing their gratitude to the comment department of Shanghai Daily for its contribution to promoting the friendship between China and Japan.
Using unique and innovative communication methods, SHINE has expanded its influence among overseas readers. For example, the original song of the B&R Initiative, which comes in both English and Chinese versions, is easy to sing along and is accompanied by humorous and animated videos, making it very popular among foreign readers. It has also launched videos of foreigners who experience Chinese medicine treatment: Andy, an expert came from New Zealand to personally experience acupuncture and cupping at the Shanghai Yueyang Hospital in Shanghai, which in turn helped more foreigners to understand and accept traditional Chinese medicine therapies.
In the future, Shanghai Daily will focus on promoting SHINE in overseas markets through social media and integrating the use of platforms such as YouTube and Google+. With overseas readers, especially young readers, as its targets, SHINE will push personalized topics that are of their concern to them in innovative ways to attract more overseas fans, helping to share and export Chinese values in engaging ways.