Xinhua Trials New English Language News Service
China took another step forward in its ongoing drive to reach out to international audiences and boost its soft power on July 1, when the state-run Xinhua News Agency announced it had started trialing a new English language TV news service.
Xinhua reporters in China and overseas will produce English language news stories for the service, which will launch with 90 minutes of daily news and slowly expand its content. During the trial stage, the service will be transmitted via satellite to Chinese users and via the Internet to international audiences.
Xinhua President Li Congjun said the service will interpret global events "objectively" and "impartially" from a Chinese standpoint, according to a Xinhua report on the launch ceremony. He said the agency will strive to bring the service up to "international standards" and satisfy the requirements of foreign audiences by providing high quality news and in-depth analysis in "trendy packaging".
When the service is officially launched on December 31, the Xinhua report said it will be transmitted to TV stations, websites, mobile users and outdoor screens but it did not provide any further details. Other media organizations have reported it will be aired on TV screens outside Chinese embassies so that people applying for visas can gain the Chinese perspective on events. At the launch, Li Congjun said it would be important for Xinhua to cooperate with influential western media organizations to extend the reach of the news service.
The service may form part of a RMB45 billion (US$6.59 billion) plan to fund a major expansion of China's international media agencies, including Xinhua, People's Daily and state broadcaster CCTV (see China Media Monitor Vol 12, Issue 23, January 19, 2009). Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported on the plan earlier this year and several Chinese media agencies have since announced plans to launch new foreign language services.
CCTV President Jiao Li on June 23 announced plans to launch four new foreign language channels before the end of 2011, including Russian, Arabic, Portuguese and an English News channel. People's Daily launched an English language version of Global Times in May, making it the second national English language paper after China Daily.
Xinhua’s moves are part of China’s wider post-Olympics cultural export drive but, unlike CCTV, which has slowly established a cable and satellite subscriber foothold in North American and European markets, Xinhua has little experience in the television field and it remains to be seen whether it can attract interest from foreign broadcasters. If it fails to do so and the service is limited to Chinese embassies and other official government venues, it is unlikely to achieve meaningful impact. Xinhua thus runs the risk of falling into the old trap of building services to meet political objectives rather than market needs.