Research on media education cooperation between China and Azerbaijan in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative

Xue Yang (Department of Journalism, Baku State University, Baku, Azerbaijan)

Social Sciences Insights Journal
Vol. 4 No. 2 (2026): Social Sciences Insights Journal

Against the background of the Belt and Road Initiative and the rapid development of digital media, educational and cultural exchanges between China and Azerbaijan have continued to develop, and media education has gradually become an area of interest in bilateral educational cooperation. This study aims to analyze the practical foundations, main forms, and challenges in the development of media education cooperation between China and Azerbaijan. Adopting a qualitative document analysis approach, this study draws mainly on government policy documents, bilateral cooperation documents, university-level materials, educational-institution publications, and relevant news reports covering the period 2012-2025. The analysis begins with the signing of the China and Azerbaijan educational cooperation agreement in 2012. The collected materials were analyzed thematically to examine the development of bilateral cooperation. The findings show that existing educational cooperation between China and Azerbaijan has concentrated on Chinese language education, cultural exchange, faculty and student mobility, and inter-university partnerships. These activities constitute a foundation for advancing media-education cooperation. Nevertheless, cooperation targeting digital media practice, journalism training, and media literacy education remains limited, and a systematic cooperation framework has not yet been established. Language differences, differences in curricula and teaching resources, and insufficient practical training platforms represent major obstacles to the further development of media education cooperation. This study contributes to the existing literature by examining educational exchanges between China and Azerbaijan from the perspectives of media education, intercultural communication, and international communication, and by exploring how broader educational exchanges relate to the development of media education cooperation. One limitation is that the analysis relies on publicly available documentary sources and does not include interviews or questionnaires; therefore, it provides limited insight into the implementation of individual projects and participants’ experiences.