/ 25 February 2009

China’s media reach grows as paper launches in US

China’s global media expansion picked up pace this week with the nation’s top English-language newspaper launching in the United States, company officials said.

The start of the US edition of the state-run China Daily newspaper on Monday comes as the nation’s communist authorities are spending millions of dollars to extend their media reach around the world.

”The US edition is focused on meeting ever-increasing demand for information on doing business with China,” the paper’s deputy editor-in-chief, Qu Yingpu, said in a statement on the paper’s website.

The paper also said its aim was to become the primary source of information on China.

As many media organisations are cutting budgets amid the rise of the internet as a news source and the global economic crisis, China’s cashed-up newspapers and TV stations have been looking to expand.

After setting up French and Spanish language channels ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China Central Television (CCTV) is intending to start new ones in Russian and Arabic this year.

The Global Times, run by Communist Party mouthpiece the People’s Daily, is also planning an English version to run alongside the China Daily.

And the official Xinhua news agency plans to open more bureaus around the world as it expands global news gathering efforts.

Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post newspaper reported last month that the Chinese government had earmarked 45-billion yuan ($6,6-billion) for the media expansion.

Such funding could not be independently confirmed. — AFP

 

AFP