Chinese Media Headline Hu’s Summit in Korea

“President Hu Jintao has met with Korean President Lee Myung-bak.”

“President Hu Jintao met with Korean business leaders over lunch.”

Two days after the Beijing Olympics ended, major Chinese newspapers and broadcasters including The People’s Daily, China Daily and Xinhua News Agency headlined Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit and summit with President Lee.

Xinhua, for example, devoted four of its six top headlines to the summit following coverage of the Olympic closing ceremony.

Chinese media said Hu’s third summit with President Lee will lead to full-scale implementation of the mutual comprehensive cooperative partnership.

To realize the goal, the two leaders issued a joint communiqué to increase and continue close bilateral exchanges and cooperation in politics, diplomacy, economy and socio-culture, Chinese reports said.

In the communiqué, the leaders spelled out 34 agreements consisting of five on politics, 17 on economy, six on human and cultural exchanges, and six on regional and international cooperation.

Xinhua presented the text of the communiqué with detailed explanations of its meanings. The news agency chronicled how Sino-Korean exchanges have advanced since the forming of diplomatic ties in 1992, citing the 830 weekly flights connecting 40 major Chinese and Korean cities and annual human exchanges involving six million people.

China Central TV aired the visit and summit in Korea as the top headline in prime time.

bonhong@donga.com