High tech gives China Media Group an edge during Two Sessions coverage

Virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI), 5G networks, and 4K ultra-high-definition video are just some of the cutting-edge technologies China Media Group is using to cover the ongoing "Two Sessions" meetings in Beijing.

The Press Center set up for the Two Sessions in Beijing. [File Photo: China Plus]

The "Two Sessions," the annual gathering of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, are some of the most important events on China's political calendar.

A program broadcast on China Media Group's 4K television channel. [File Photo: China Plus]

China Central Television, which is part of China Media Group, employed an AI robot reporter to provide some of the coverage of the event.

China Media Group has also used a 5G network to transmit 4K ultra-high-definition images of the Two Sessions for the first time, following an event in late February when the group used 5G technology to transmit 4K ultra-high-definition video from 16 cities around the country into China Media Group's Media Lab in Beijing. The ultra-high-definition images were then sent over a 5G network to one of Huawei's new Mate X foldable smartphones. This was a first for the broadcaster, and marked a substantial step forward in demonstrating its mastery of this cutting-edge technology.

Wang Xiaohui (center), the administrative vice minister of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, operates a 4K video program using a Huawei 5G foldable phone in Beijing on Thursday, February 28, 2019. [Photo: China Plus]

The Media Lab was set up last year following the establishment of the first 5G-based new media platform with support from Huawei and China's three telecom giants – China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Mobile.

Shen Haixiong, the president of China Media Group, gives a speech at the ceremony to mark the first successful broadcast of 4K video from cities across China through a 5G network to China Media Group's new media platform in Beijing on Thursday, February 28, 2019. [Photo: China Plus]

The combination of 4K video, 5G networking, and AI technology is at the core of the broadcaster's plans to expand its influence, said Shen Haixiong, the president of China Media Group during an event in December.

Attendees at the ceremony to witness the first broadcast for China Media Group's 4K video on 5G new media platform in Beijing on Thursday, February 28, 2019. [Photo: China Plus]

On October 1 last year, China Media Group launched the first domestic 4K ultra-high-definition television channel, which broadcasts original 4K content for eight hours each day.