Xinhua and TASS Launch Joint Media Tour in Moscow
MOSCOW — China’s Xinhua News Agency and Russia’s TASS news agency launched a cross-border joint media tour in Moscow on Monday, marking the 70th anniversary of their cooperation and signaling a deepening of bilateral media ties between the two countries.
The launch ceremony was held at the square in front of TASS headquarters, attended by high-level officials including Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, TASS Director General Andrey Kondrashov, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui, and Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who jointly cut the ribbon to inaugurate the tour, as Xinhua reported.
A 70-Year Partnership
The joint media tour commemorates seven decades of formal cooperation between Xinhua and TASS, a relationship that dates back to 1956. However, as Zakharova noted, the interaction between the two agencies spans nearly a century — TASS established its first bureau in China in the 1930s, and a TASS correspondent was present on Tiananmen Square in 1949 to report on the founding of the People’s Republic of China, as detailed by the Russian government information portal.
Kondrashov highlighted this legacy, stating: “It was a TASS correspondent who, in 1949, while on Tiananmen Square, was the first to announce to the whole world that the People’s Republic of China had just been formed.”
The initiative was first proposed by Kondrashov in July 2025 during a meeting with Xinhua Director General Fu Hua in Zhengzhou, China, where they agreed to accelerate a cooperation plan for 2025-2030, according to TASS.
The Media Tour: Roads of Friendship
Themed “Roads of Friendship: Preserving the Past, Striving for the Future,” the tour brings together 25 journalists from both agencies. The Russian leg, running from July 7 to 14, will take the delegation along Russia’s famed “Golden Ring” cultural tourism route, visiting historic cities including Ivanovo, Vladimir, Mstyora, and Murom — cities described as Russia’s “historical textbooks.” A second leg in China will follow at a later date.
Chernyshenko underscored the strategic importance of the initiative, saying: “We have been working toward this important event systematically for 70 years. Last year, the Strategy for the Development of Relations between TASS and Xinhua was signed, and this year in May a memorandum on a number of joint actions was signed, and today the media tour was launched.”
He added that the tour would not only deepen pragmatic exchanges between the two agencies but also boost cultural and tourism exchanges between Russia and China.
Broader Strategic Context
The media cooperation is unfolding against the backdrop of what both sides describe as the highest level of China-Russia relations in history. In May 2026, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a state visit to China, during which he and President Xi Jinping toured a joint TASS-Xinhua photo exhibition at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Ambassador Zhang Hanhui emphasized the significance of the media partnership: “Over the past 70 years, Xinhua and TASS have deeply participated in the development of China-Russia relations, comprehensively recorded every stage of the process, built a solid bridge for information sharing and communication, and continuously deepened mutual understanding between the two peoples.”
Kondrashov framed the collaboration in broader terms, stating that “Russian and Chinese journalists share a common goal: to protect the truth about ongoing events and historical truth.” This sentiment echoes Fu Hua’s statement from the July 2025 meeting, where he said it is essential to study “how the Russian and Chinese voices can be expressed in the global information space.”
Tourism and People-to-People Ties
The Golden Ring route selection also highlights the growing tourism dimension of China-Russia relations. Tourism between the two countries reached 3 million people in 2025, and in the first quarter of 2026, tourist flow grew by 49% year-on-year. The visa-free regime between Russia and China has been extended through December 31, 2027.
Zakharova noted a historical connection with Ivanovo, one of the tour destinations, where the “Interdom” international school — founded in 1933 — housed Chinese children during China’s civil war. In January 2025, for the first time in 75 years, Chinese schoolchildren returned to study at Interdom.
What’s Next
As the 25-journalist delegation begins its journey along the Golden Ring, the initiative represents a significant milestone in China-Russia media diplomacy. The tour is expected to produce joint content that will be published by both agencies, and the China leg — with dates yet to be announced — will offer Russian journalists a similar opportunity to explore Chinese cities and culture.
The collaboration also positions both agencies for greater influence in international media forums. TASS was elected chairman of the Organization of Asian and Pacific News Agencies (OANA) for 2025-2028, and the strengthened Xinhua-TASS partnership could serve as a template for similar initiatives with other countries aligned with the two nations’ strategic vision.