The launch ceremony of A Date with China 2024 international media tour is held in Shishi of Quanzhou, East China's Fujian province on May 16, 2024. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

A Date with China 2024 international media tour kicked off in Shishi of Quanzhou, East China's Fujian province, on Thursday with a launch ceremony held in the county-level city which is renowned for its booming textile and garment industry.

This year's A Date with China media tour, themed "Develop New Quality Productive Forces, Sharing Chinese Opportunities", will take domestic and international reporters, international internet influencers, and experts to visit Quanzhou and Zhangzhou of Fujian province to learn more about the province's significance in the country's high-quality development, cross-border trade and international cultural exchanges.

According to Li Xin, deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily Multimedia and organizer of the tour, for three consecutive years, the media tour has taken international media members, web influencers and experts from nearly 50 countries as well as Chinese journalists to nearly 20 provinces and autonomous regions in the country. Based on their experiences from the tours, the international members of the tour publish stories and create content on social media to share the real China and tell their China stories to the whole world.

Fujian, as the eastern starting point of ancient Maritime Silk Road, is now the core area of the Maritime Silk Road in the 21st century. The province has gathered a large number of well-known domestic and foreign enterprises, covering various fields such as new energy, intelligent manufacturing and digital economy.

The launch ceremony of A Date with China 2024 international media tour is held in Shishi of Quanzhou, East China's Fujian province on May 16, 2024. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Alexander Stephen Long, a staff member of China Daily website who is from the United Kingdom, said he was impressed by the thriving cooperation between China and the EU and is keen to witness more firsthand fruits of the exchanges between the two sides from the tour of Fujian.

A Date with China media tour will visit the production workshops of enterprises, trade centers and cultural heritage sites to explore vibrant practices of boosting new quality productive forces and feel the opportunities that China's high-quality development brings to the world.