Beijing's top official said in Beijing Friday that the city government is to cooperate more with global media giants to promote its image.  

Meeting with visiting media mogul Rupert Murdoch, Liu Qi, secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Beijing Municipal Committee, said Beijing should more skillfully show its development to the outside world.

"Image-building is vital to any host city of the Olympics," said Liu, who is also president of the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee.

He cited the two brief documentaries on Beijing recently broadcast by the Cable News Network (CNN) as Beijing's first public relations endeavor in the mainstream media.

He told Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corp., that he hoped for more positive exposure of the city in the media.

(Xinhua News Agency October 10, 2003)