BEIJING, May 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — CGTN published an article on a China-Russia people-to-people and cultural exchange event commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War, highlighting how cultural exchanges inject new impetus into China-Russia friendship.
In September 1938, Soviet cameraman Roman Lazarevich Karmen was dispatched to China by the Soviet government to document the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. Karmen captured the courageous and determined efforts of Chinese soldiers and civilians, as well as the support provided by the Soviet volunteer air force during the war.
Eighty-seven years later, Karmen’s grandson took part in a cultural exchange event held on Wednesday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory in both the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War. During the event, he shared stories of his family’s deep-rooted connection with China.
Hosted by China Media Group (CMG) and the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK), the event also featured the producer and main creative team behind the China-Russia co-produced film “Red Silk,” which premiered in Russia on February 20 and is scheduled for release in Chinese theaters this September.
The 2025 China Film Festival in Russia was officially launched during the event. Additionally, CMG and VGTRK announced a peace-themed initiative aimed at collecting historical relics, documentary images, and other memorabilia from citizens of both countries to jointly portray a vision of peace and shared future.
On the same day, filming began on the China-Russia co-produced documentary, “The Great Victory – China’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Through the Lens of a Soviet Photographer,” which explores the experiences of Soviet photojournalist Roman Kalman in China and the powerful images he captured during the war.
Shen Haixiong, vice minister of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and president of CMG, and Oleg Dobrodeev, CEO of the VGTRK, highlighted the fruitful achievements of past cooperation between the two media organizations.
They expressed a shared commitment to further strengthening collaboration in content exchange, technological innovation, and personnel development, thereby deepening public support for the China-Russia friendship and contributing to cultural understanding between the two nations.
Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to the event, noting that 80 years ago, the peoples of China and Russia jointly made indelible historical contributions to the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War and forged an unbreakable, great friendship with blood, laying a solid foundation for the high-level development of bilateral relations.
He emphasized that strengthening people-to-people and cultural exchanges is of great and far-reaching significance for enhancing mutual understanding, promoting good-neighborliness and friendship, and consolidating the social and popular support for the development of bilateral ties.
On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin also sent a congratulatory message to the event.
As agreed by President Xi and President Putin in 2023, the years 2024 and 2025 have been designated the China-Russia Years of Culture. Since the beginning of 2024, both countries have actively engaged in a vibrant series of cultural initiatives as part of this shared celebration.
