Interview: Discovery proud of documentary about President Xi's ideas -- network VP

Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-18 16:40:22|Editor: An
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SINGAPORE, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Discovery is very proud of its new documentary about Chinese President Xi Jinping's ideas, said Vikram Channa, vice president of the Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific.

The three-episode TV series titled "China: Time of Xi" focuses on Xi's ideas and visions on governance and concluded its debut on Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific late Monday.

The documentary was broadcast on Oct. 14-16 to 200 million viewers in 37 countries and regions.

The idea of shooting a documentary about China's achievements over the past five years under the leadership of President Xi has come out "instinctively," Channa told Xinhua in an interview.

It's all natural, Channa said, given China's huge successes, its faith in its development mode, and Xi's significant global impact, especially with China's Belt and Road Initiative.

A TV series with Xi's name would attract a lot of viewers, he added.

In Channa's opinion, the Belt and Road Initiative is fascinating as it represents the developing world's perspective of globalization.

Therefore in the third episode titled "All Aboard, China: Time of Xi," China's logic and motivation for the initiative is explained, Channa said.

It's incredible that China, based on its past accomplishments and successes, offers an alternative way of continuing globalization at a time when many countries are questioning it, he said.

Channa said the challenges that China is facing, such as how to use science and technology for economic transformation, are also being faced by many other countries.

"It's quite amazing how we reached the point where China's success and its faith in its model of development can be shared," he said.

The world is very curious about what will happen to China next, because there are so many lessons and experiences that are relevant to other developing countries in the world, he added.

What is special about the documentary is that it's Discovery's first TV series on the topic of China's policies, said Channa.

He said the documentary has led to a new level of understanding of China for his Discovery colleagues.

Discovery usually presents films on science and technology, survival, culture, history and travel. This time the network used its story-telling techniques to address a hard topic on policy in a bid to make it accessible to a global audience.

The documentary includes interviews with a panel of experts and scholars, including former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, U.S. scholar Robert Kuhn, British scholar Martin Jacques, Zheng Yongnian, director of the East Asian Institute of the National University of Singapore and Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo.

KEY WORDS: Xi Jinping
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