Ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had become important partners of China in film and television industry, a senior Chinese official said Saturday.

"One third of the foreign TV series China imports are produced by the ASEAN countries," Tian Jin, deputy director of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, said at a forum of the 6th China-ASEAN Expo held from October 20 to 24 in Nanning, capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

"ASEAN is always an important market for Chinese TV products," he said, adding there was still large room for further development and cooperation.

The Chinese government decided to boost its culture industry and formulated specific plans in July, which provided an opportunity for deeper China-ASEAN cooperation in program production, technology application and service trade, he said.

Last April, China and the 10 ASEAN nations reached a series of agreements on China-ASEAN Summit Forum on Radio and Television and vowed to promote radio and television cooperation to push forward the China-ASEAN strategic partnership.

Linda Lee, head of the culture and information division of the ASEAN Secretariat, said that currently the 10 ASEAN states held exchange on TV programs each week, attended by their state media, which would be a platform for cooperation between China and ASEAN.

Zhang Changming, deputy president of China Central Television (CCTV), said Chinese media should explore new fields for cooperation with ASEAN state media. CCTV established cooperation on news service with state media from nine ASEAN countries last year including Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos and Malaysia, he said.

Linda Lee also suggested more joint production of TV programs between China and ASEAN, and more exchanges among media personnel including journalists.

Experts had also proposed to expand cooperation in TV programs for youngsters between China and ASEAN countries, as China and ASEAN countries share similar history, culture and traditions.

Javad Mottaghi, director of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development, said people should notice the influence of new media on the new generations, so as to meet the demand of the young audience.

Exchanging TV programs between ASEAN members would help the children know better about the "neighbors" while they grow up and ultimately contribute to the regional solidarity and peace, he said.

Zhang Changming suggested TV program crews from China and ASEAN can explore more forms of cooperation, such as joint shooting and production, cross-border coverage and conducting big events for the young, which would create a platform for the communication between the young peoples of China and ASEAN members.

(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2009)