What would you see if you visited the 2025 China New Media Conference today?
Dancing robots, AI-powered "all-seeing eyes" for spotting disinformation, and an all-in-one content creation toolkit boasting over 200 features... This is what greeted visitors at the 2025 China New Media Conference, which opened on November 12 in Changsha, Hunan, under the theme "Intelligent Synergy, Systemic Transformation."
The China New Media Conference is now in its eighth year. The event kicked off in Beijing in 2018, organized by the newly established New Media Committee of the All-China Journalists Association. From 2019 through 2025, it has been held in Changsha, Hunan for seven consecutive sessions.
As a key part of the grand event, the 2025 New Media Technology Exhibition is scheduled from November 12 to 14. Inside, visitors can get a firsthand look at how media is being redefined, from state-level media outlets to county-level integrated media centers, and from virtual assistants to embodied intelligence.
I
When I stepped into the technology exhibition at the 2025 China New Media Conference, I found the display booths for China's three leading media outlets: Xinhua News Agency, People's Daily, and China Media Group, on the left. Upon entering the Xinhua booth, I was immediately struck by its tech-forward atmosphere. As a fellow media professional, I was instantly drawn to their star product, the "News Production Assistant," and I was eager to learn more.
"Since its launch in 2023, the 'News Production Assistant' has brought together 227 tools, becoming an all-in-one platform for handling editorial tasks. It assists with everything from planning topics and editing posters and videos to proofreading manuscripts, polishing articles, AI-powered title generation, and even resource integration and information retrieval, making it incredibly versatile!" said a staff member from Xinhua News Agency's Technology Department. This "News Production Assistant," built on Xinhua's authoritative big data and self-developed large model, serves as a practical and reliable intelligent production engine.
The staff then gave a live demonstration on site. Upon entering "Milan Fashion Week," the "News Production Assistant" instantly and accurately retrieved relevant videos and images from Xinhua's vast internal database. He particularly emphasized that all materials are under Xinhua's own copyright, which is both secure and authoritative, thereby alleviating any concerns regarding infringement. With access to both the "Poster Assistant" and the integrated media resource library, thousands of templates are readily available, which significantly boosts creative productivity.
A visitor learn about the products at Xinhua booth. (Photo/Huang Qiqing)
"I'm deeply impressed by what I've seen today. It all showcases the most cutting-edge practices. Media outlets like Xinhua News Agency, People's Daily, and Hunan Daily are truly standing at the forefront of innovation," said a student from Xiangtan Institute of Technology. "What we learn in the classroom tends to be more theoretical. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, it would be hard to imagine how advanced new media has become. This visit has given me a completely different perspective."
Where smart creation is empowered, sharper scrutiny must follow. All AI-powered content deserves all-seeing eyes.
My next stop was the Communication University of China's booth, where a platform called "White Poplar Intelligence Check" immediately caught my eye. A pioneering tool from the university's National Key Laboratory for identifying and combating disinformation.
According to a student researcher in the lab, this system offers a solution that is thorough, highly efficient, and accurate to address the challenge of AI-generated disinformation.
But actions speak louder than words. I had to see it for myself. I uploaded a video I'd made with AI, and in less than ten seconds, the platform produced a nearly eight-page report. The document pinpointed four key tampering risks and gave a final assessment: "The overall probability of manipulation of the report is 93%." In today's world, flooded with AI content, this kind of "quality-control gatekeeper" isn't just useful. It's absolutely essential.
The video authenticity analysis report generated by the "White Poplar Intelligence Check" platform. (Photo/Liu Dan)
II
Here's some great news: district or county-level integrated media centers are now on the scene.
Amid an exhibition hall dominated by "prestigious" national media and cutting-edge technology, one booth stood out as a surprising presence--the Jiangxia District Integrated Media Center from Wuhan. This was particularly notable, given the conspicuous absence of district or county-level integrated media centers at last year's China New Media Technology Exhibition. Driven by curiosity, I stepped into the Jiangxia media booth for a closer look.
The Jiangxia District Integrated Media Center from Wuhan makes its debut at the China New Media Conference as the only representative at the district or county level nationwide. (Photo/the interviewee)
"As the only district or county-level media here, what is your core strength?" I asked. Sun Qingyang, new media director of the District Integrated Media Center, replied, "We are the 'last mile' that delivers integrated media directly to the community, and we are on the front lines of serving the public."
According to Sun, their flagship platform, the "Zhangwo Jiangxia" app, aggregates high-quality news from TV, newspapers, radio, and more. Grounded in a "News + Government Affairs + Services+" model, it is dedicated to becoming a mainstream public opinion hub, a comprehensive service platform, and a central source for key community information. In 2024, it was honored with a top-tier award in the platform construction category of Hubei Province's Media Convergence Innovation Case awards.
By empowering the "last mile" with digital intelligence, grassroots governance gains a keener perception.
The "Zhangwo Jiangxia" app provides a range of livelihood services, including promotional sales, a community Q&A, online legal consultation, housing information, and health certificate registration. Sun Qingyang pointed out that within the center's 160-person team, a core group of four technicians handles platform operations. Through their focused local community management, they have built an extensive correspondent network across all administrative levels. This network serves as a robust channel for sourcing local content.
To date, the "Zhangwo Jiangxia" app has been installed on over 400,000 devices. At its peak, it boasted 110,000 monthly active users. The platform publishes more than 6,000 articles annually, with total views exceeding 50 million. Furthermore, it organizes over a hundred online and offline events each year. For a district-level integrated media platform, these figures represent a truly impressive performance.
III
The future has arrived: embodied intelligence unlocks a new chapter in Human-AI co-creation.
Drawn by the upbeat music and a dense crowd at the Mango TV booth, I pushed my way in to find the star "Xiaojiu," an embodied robot, who was gracefully swinging its arms and perfectly timed to the beat. It had drawn the crowd into a semicircle. The onlookers couldn't hold back their continual exclamations of amazement.
The more I watched it, the more familiar it seemed. I realized that it was the embodied robot in the popular TV variety show "Chinese Restaurant: Starting up in Africa."
"The name 'Xiaojiu' was given by the show's guests, echoing the fact that this is the ninth season of 'Chinese Restaurant', with "jiu" sounding like the word for "ninth" in Chinese," explained a Mango TV representative at the scene. "Xiaojiu officially launched in May this year. Its hardware is based on a platform from AgiBot, but its 'soul', the internal capabilities to hear, speak, and interact with the environment, was independently developed by us, built upon our self-trained Mango AI Model." This special "TV variety show partner" took on duties like greeting guests, serving dishes, and interactive performances, winning great popularity among local customers in Morocco.
Even more impressively, "Xiaojiu", powered by the Mango AI Model, now boasts more than 10 core functions. These range from simultaneous interpretation and incisive commentary to interactive guest greetings, serving as an AI-powered guide, creating personalized music, and designing comic-style posters. This truly demonstrates Mango TV's pioneering efforts in intelligent content creation and application.
"The technological competition within the media industry is fiercer than one might imagine," remarked a third-year student surnamed Lu from Hunan University of Technology after interacting with "Xiaojiu." He went on to say, "Technology and media development are deeply intertwined. To avoid being left behind by the times, any media entity must accelerate its pace and strive to keep up with this technological wave.
Next, "Xiaojiu" is slated for documentaries and more variety shows. It seems we can expect even more surprises from this multi-talented AI partner in the future!
The exhibition attracts a significant number of industry professionals and students. (Photo/Huang Qiqing)
At the opening ceremony and main forum of the 2025 China New Media Conference, Shen Xiaoming, secretary of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee, highlighted that as both a cultural and media powerhouse, Hunan has remained committed to deepening its understanding and implementation of the Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. The province remains guided by the important instructions made by General Secretary Xi Jinping to "explore effective mechanisms for integrating culture and technology," vigorously implements innovation projects that empower the cultural industry with technology, and promotes the creative transformation and innovative development of Huxiang culture, thereby better assuming its new cultural mission.
Media is evolving beyond traditional boundaries, transforming from a model of pure production to one of curation, from a remote cloud to an immediate presence, and from algorithmic logic to human touch. Through this transformation, its fundamental purpose holds true: connecting with everyone more efficiently, reliably, and personally.
Given the profoundly expanding capabilities of AI, what reflections does it spark for you? We invite you to post your insights below and let's discuss the future of media professionals in this age.