China's mainstream media outlets are being urged to leverage new technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data to boost personalized and interactive communication, enhance their influence and achieve sustainable development, according to a forum held on Tuesday in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

At the Forum on Systemic Transformation of Mainstream Media, hosted by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, officials and experts called on media organizations to embrace the opportunities and challenges brought by the rapid growth of technologies that are reshaping the media industry. They emphasized the need to grasp trends in digitalization and intelligence to secure the future through deep and comprehensive reform.

In a keynote speech, Mo Gaoyi, deputy head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee and director of the State Council Information Office, said institutional reform is key to sparking innovation and creativity in the media sector.

Mo called for adopting internet thinking and promoting integrated operations to achieve true convergence between traditional and new media, fostering a landscape of efficient and intensive omnimedia development.

"In the digital era, users' preferences for media coverage and their satisfaction with media services are expressed through their fingertips," he said. He urged mainstream outlets to prioritize high-quality content production and improve their ability to deliver targeted and effective communication.

Mo expressed hope that media organizations will forge ahead with innovation to make new breakthroughs in systemic media transformation.

The forum brought together representatives from mainstream media, internet enterprises and research institutions to exchange ideas. It came amid the rapid development of internet-based platforms in China, including websites, microblogs, WeChat, electronic bulletins, mobile newspapers and internet protocol television, which deliver information directly to users' devices.

To keep pace with the evolving media landscape, the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee — a key Party meeting held in July last year — highlighted the need to develop a work mechanism and evaluation system tailored to omnimedia production and dissemination, and to promote the systemic transformation of mainstream media.

Experts at the forum noted that implementing systemic reform faces challenges related to technology, mechanisms and talent. The wide application of technologies such as AI, big data, cloud computing and the internet of things requires media professionals to adopt internet thinking and stay attuned to emerging tools, they said.

Wang Xiaozhen, vice-president of China Media Group, said the transformation is both a self-driven reform and a major opportunity for mainstream media.

CMG will continue advancing systemic reform and work to enhance its guidance, influence and communication capacity to contribute to building a culturally thriving nation, he said.

Hu Zhengrong, director of the Institute of Journalism and Communication at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, stressed the importance of cultivating talent in digital communication.

He said mainstream media in the digital era should act as connectors and facilitators of social life, which requires building a new omnimedia communication ecosystem and strengthening resilience and competitiveness. Talent development, he added, is the foundation of that effort.