New Ties along the Silk Road: China-Europe Railway is a 52-minute documentary jointly planned and produced by CGTN Français and Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS). Travelling 13,052 km in 21 days, the crew of professionals from both China and Switzerland filmed the whole journey of several China-Europe trains: departing from Yiwu in China, leaving China at Alashakou in Xinjiang, running along the Silk Road Economic Belt passing through Kazakhstan, Russia, Germany and other countries, changing tracks three times and finally terminating at Madrid in Spain. Based on the longest freight railway in the world, the co-production depicts a panorama of China-Europe Railway trains crossing Eurasia from east to west, an international railway relay spanning over 10,000 km, and a great cultural journey crossing eight countries. It presents a modern version of the Silk Road by showcasing to the audience the cultural diversity, customs and practices in various regions along the route. Through stories of unsung heroes behind the freight railway including truck drivers, cargo checkers and merchants engaged in cross-border e-commerce, the documentary displays the great era behind the Silk Road and illustrates how the Belt and Road Initiative brings win-win cooperation to the participating countries. At the beginning of 2018, the documentary was broadcast synchronously on CGTN Français, RTS, TV5 MONDE and TVE. Global promotion was carried out on their official websites and via social media.

Song Jianing, deputy director of CGTN, founding chief of the CCTV Africa Bureau, is a famous French language TV anchor, council member of the 7th session of the Translators Association of China (TAC), and member of the 4th session of China-European Association.In 2019, she was awarded the Honorary Medal for 30 years of Journalism issued by the All-China Journalists Association (ACJA). Being at the frontline of international journalism, particularly via documentaries and with a Chinese perspective, she has won many awards from China and abroad, including the second prize of the French Media International Weather Festival Award, the CCTV Director Special Award, the second prize of the China News Award for international journalism, the second prize of the National People's Congress News Award, the second prize of the China Rainbow Award, the best current affairs report of the China Africa Report Award for, and the nomination prize of the China Documentary Academy Award for the best international reporting, and etc.