A seminar attended by more than 400 people from universities, think tanks and media organizations opened on Thursday in Yantai, Shandong province, to discuss how China's stories and voices can achieve consistent global reach.

With the country's growing influence, the world is interested in learning more about China, said Guo Weimin, vice-minister of the State Council Information Office, at the opening ceremony. Communication workers must seek ways to tell stories so that the country's voice can be heard better around the world, Guo said.

"People want to know more about China. They not only want to know what happened in China but the reasons behind the events," Guo said.

Shandong province, the home of Confucius, is developing a branding campaign highlighting the Chinese sage as a platform for telling stories about traditional Chinese culture, said Wang Hao, Party chief of Yantai.

"In the context of globalization, Shandong is willing to share its culture with the world and absorb the essence of cultures from around the world for development and prosperity," Wang said.

Hu Zhengrong, president of Communication University of China, said international communication should incorporate features that fit individual countries.

"When China's stories are told, elements including the readers' ethnic groups and religions should be considered. Then the stories will be better understood," Hu said.

Six subforums and two roundtable meetings were scheduled for the two-day event, with topics ranging from disseminating Chinese culture to innovation in international discourse.

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(China Daily 07/28/2017 page5)