The deal also marks the first collaboration for Ruder Finn with a media group in China. The agency’s global CEO, Kathy Bloomgarden, came to China at the end of June to sign the agreement, sealing the partnership without a pitch due to good prior relations between Ruder Finn and People.cn.
The aim of the MOU is to establish a communication and interactive platform between the government, media, academics and enterprises.
Ruder Finn will help to establish the communication and interactive platform, which will involve strengthening the capacity of public affairs communications; studying the development of the public affairs communications system and methodology; assisting domestic enterprises to go global; and promoting the development of social media for online public opinion supervision.
People.cn was established in 1997 and became a company operation in 2005. People.cn operates in 15 languages and has 70 global operations in Asia, the UK and the US. It was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange this April, becoming the first Chinese news portal media company to be listed in the China A stock market.
Paul Yang, general manager for Ruder Finn Beijing, said this move signals a shift to the next level for the global media company, and its hopes to be a bridge between China and the world.
Yang added, “due to the rising power of social media in China, companies (both domestic and multunationals) are facing increasing scrutiny via social media.” Hence one of the organisation's main tasks is to push forward an exchange and increase People.cn's impact not only for Chinese domestic companies but also for international companies that are operating in China.
People’s Daily Online has launched several sites which have become crucial channels to disseminate state information, interpret government policies and facilitate exchanges among the general public.
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