BY AGIIMAA BATERDENE
Journalist of Mongolian National Broadcaster (MNB World), Mongolia
Returning to China as a journalist gave me an opportunity to look at a country I once knew personally through a very different lens. I had previously lived in Beijing while completing my high school education, so China was not an entirely new place to me. Yet returning years later, with professional experience in journalism and international communication, I found myself noticing things I had not paid attention to before. I was no longer simply experiencing China as a student. I was observing it as a journalist, thinking about how a country communicates with the world and how its development is connected to wider international cooperation.
My first impression was not simply about how much China had changed, but also about how much my own perspective had changed. Familiar places felt different because I was seeing them with new questions. As a journalist, I became more conscious of the relationship between development and communication, particularly how infrastructure, technology, education, culture and economic cooperation can shape the way countries interact with one another.
This experience also made the idea of global governance feel more concrete to me. International cooperation is often discussed in broad terms, but seeing different institutions and people engage with development issues made me think about how cooperation actually takes place. Countries have different experiences, priorities and approaches, yet many of the challenges they face are shared. Climate change, sustainable development, technological transformation, poverty reduction and economic connectivity are issues that increasingly cross national borders.
For me, this is where journalism has an important role to play. International journalism is not only about reporting events in different countries. It is also about helping audiences understand the context behind those events and presenting different perspectives accurately and responsibly. Having the opportunity to see China again through a professional lens reminded me that direct experience can add depth to reporting that cannot always be gained from distance.
My previous connection with China also encouraged me to think about how personal experience influences the way journalists approach international stories. Having studied and lived in Beijing, I already had memories and impressions of the country. Returning as a working journalist allowed me to question some of those earlier impressions rather than simply rely on them. It reminded me that countries, societies and relationships continue to evolve, and journalists must be willing to keep learning and reassessing what they think they know.
As a Mongolian journalist working in English-language media, I am particularly interested in how developments in Asia are communicated to international audiences. Mongolia is situated between two major powers and has its own growing engagement with countries across the region. This makes understanding different perspectives on regional cooperation especially relevant to my work.
My first impressions of China, therefore, were not simply about returning to a familiar country. They were about seeing a familiar place from an unfamiliar professional perspective. The experience strengthened my interest in international journalism and in understanding how countries communicate, cooperate and respond to shared global challenges. It also reminded me that one of the most valuable roles of a journalist is to remain curious: to look beyond first impressions, ask better questions and bring a more informed understanding of the world to the audience.
*The views and opinions expressed in the articles are solely those of the individual authors and do not reflect the position of the Secretariat of the Belt and Road Journalist Network.