The Press Conference on the Shandong Sub-center of the 2008 Beijing International Media Center

(At 2.30 pm on July 16, 2008 at the Minor Auditorium on the 4th floor of the Nanjiao Hotel Club)

The press conference was chaired by Huang Zecun, director of the Publicity Office of the Provincial Party Committee and of the Information Office of Shandong Provincial People’s Government.

Huang Zecun: Good afternoon, friends from the media, ladies and gentlemen. Today, there are 23 days to go before the Beijing Olympic Games begin and Shandong Province has entered a critical phase of publicizing the Olympic Games. According to the requirement of the Central Government, our province has commenced the operation of the Shandong Sub-centre of the 2008 Beijing International Media Center (BIMC Shandong Sub-centre) to provide services for journalists during the Olympic Games. Today, we hold a provincial government press conference and have invited Mr. Liu Baoju, deputy director of the Publicity Department of the Provincial Party Committee and spokesman of the Provincial Government, Mr. Li Jianjun, director of the Provincial Office for Network, Mr. Zhang Jigang, deputy director of the Provincial Foreign Affairs Office, and Mr. Ji Baobang, deputy inspector of the Provincial Department of Radio, Film and Television, to give us briefings on matters concerned and answer journalists’ questions.
Present at the conference are journalists from Shandong branches of the central media and of Hong Kong media, from the provincial media, and from the major media in Jinan.

Next, Mr. Liu Baoju will give a briefing on the BIMC Shandong Sub-centre.
  
Liu Baoju: Good afternoon, friends from the media. Thank you for your attention to and support for Shandong Province’s publicity work of the Olympic Games. First of all, I will introduce the responsible officials of the BIMC Shandong Sub-centre. Its deputy director and the head of its department of information and foreign publicity is Huang Zecun, director of the Publicity Office of the Provincial Party Committee and of the Information Office of the Provincial Government. Its second deputy director and the head of its department of information and domestic publicity is Li Jianjun, director of the Provincial Office for Network, its third deputy director and head of its department of foreign journalist reception and service is Zhang Jigang, deputy director of the Provincial Foreign Affairs Office, its fourth deputy director and head of its department of technological guarantee is Ji Baobang, deputy inspector of the Provincial Department of Radio, Film and Television, and I am its director and head of the department of general coordination.

Liu Baoju: Next, I will give a briefing on the BIMC Shandong Sub-centre.

Liu Baoju: To make a good job of publicizing the Beijing Olympic Games, our province has set up the BIMC Shandong Sub-centre according to the requirement of the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee and the International Communication Office of the CPC Central Committee. On July 8, the BIMC Shandong Sub-centre’s journalists’ office, reception hall, and press conference hall began operation and all the preparations for journalists’ interviews and dispatches were basically completed. At present, the Shandong Sub-centre is located in the Nanjiao Hotel, with some workers on duty round the clock. The contacts in the six cities--- Yantai, Qingdao, Linyi, Qufu, Tai`an, and Jinan--- which the torch relay go through have begun their work. As of July 15, there were 105 journalists from 18 domestic and foreign news agencies who signed up for reporting on the 2008 Beijing Olympic torch relay in Shandong through an open telephone number 85188812. Among them, four are from two central news agencies, five are from two news agencies in Hong Kong and Macao, twenty-seven are from four news agencies in other provinces and cities in other provinces, and sixty-nine are from nine news agencies within our province (not including the provincial radio and television).

Liu Baoju: Our province has attached great importance to the publicity of the Olympic Games, set up a special leading group for the Olympic work, and established an Olympic news and publicity centre. We have formulated and issued "the Program for Shandong Province’s Publicity of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games" and other documents. In addition, we have held an Olympic news and publicity work meeting, a provincial news and publicity work meeting, a provincial work meeting for the publicity of the Olympic Games, and a provincial symposium of the heads of the propaganda departments to make special arrangements for the province`s publicity of the Olympic Games.

Liu Baoju: The BIMC Shandong Sub-centre was formed by the Provincial Olympic News and Publicity Centre and it is composed of the following departments: the department of general coordination,the department of information and domestic publicity, department of information and foreign publicity, department of journalist reception and service, and department of technological guarantee. The BIMC Shandong Sub-centre provides information and reception service for registered and non-registered journalists who come to Shandong for news reportage during the Olympic Games, is responsible for organization and coordination of the release of important news other than the Olympic events, and is the important channel through which Chinese and foreign media understand and report on Shandong. Its main duties include: (1) to handle the registered and non-registered journalists’ requests for reportage in our province, and answer their relevant inquiries, (2) to plan and hold news release activities such as press conferences and  press briefings, (3) to handle journalists’ reportage organized by the Beijing International Media Center and arrange their reporting activities in Shandong, (4) to provide the journalists with such services as news clues, information, and technical support, (5) to accomplish other duties assigned by the Beijing International Media Center. In order to do a good job of serving the domestic and foreign journalists, we have also established and improved a rapid response mechanism, an on-duty work system and a liaison work system so as to guarantee the efficient smooth running of the Shandong Sub-centre.

Liu Baoju: The publicity of the Olympic Games is the most important publicity and ideological work at present and in a period from now on, and to do the various jobs well at the BIMC Shandong Sub-centre is the key to our province’s publicity of the Olympic Games. All these need the close cooperation of the media. Here, on behalf of the BIMC Shandong Sub-centre, I solemnly promise that we will uphold transpositional thinking, give prominence to humanized services, and provide the Chinese and foreign journalists with conveniences in their reportage and daily life. We will strictly abide by the rules of the International Olympic Organizing Committee, and equally treat journalists from domestic and foreign media. We will take the initiative to set topics for discussion, design reporting routes, provide technical support, and create favorable  conditions for the journalist to accomplish their assignments. We will respect different customs and practices, tolerate cultural differences, and try to create advantages in accommodations, catering, transportation, tourism, and medical care so as to provide thoughtful and meticulous service. Through our efforts, we will make the Chinese and foreign journalists fully experience the Shandong people’s hospitality, industry, and honesty and the unique charm of the Qilu culture, and make the BIMC Shandong Sub-centre into a real "journalists’ home."

Liu Baoju: That’s the end of my briefing. Thank you!

Huang Zecun: the BIMC Shandong Sub-centre will warmly welcome the arrival of journalist friends both from home and abroad and try to provide services in work and daily life. I hope that all the media will pay attention to and support the work of the BIMC Shandong Sub-centre and, through the joint efforts of all, create a good atmosphere of public opinion for the success of the Olympic Games.

Huang Zecun: Today`s news conference is over. Thank you all.