Chinese Ambassador to Georgia Meets with the President of GBTimes Oy

On September 18, 2015, Yue Bin (岳斌), then Chinese ambassador to Georgia, met with Zhao Yinong (趙亦農), president of GBTimes Oy, a Chinese state-linked media company operating in Finland, according to a report published by the Chinese Embassy in Georgia. The ambassador congratulated Zhao on establishing the company’s operations in Georgia and said he hoped it would expand reporting on China to deepen Georgian “understanding and sentiment” (瞭解與情感) toward China. GBTimes Oy, headquartered in Tampere, produces China-related radio, print, and online content for European audiences. A Reuters investigation found that a subsidiary of the state-run China Radio International (CRI), Guoguang Century Media Consultation Co., held a 60 percent ownership stake in GBTimes Oy, and that Zhao told Reuters CRI paid his company “several million euros” annually — a little over half of GBTimes’ total revenue — to produce China-focused programming for European audiences.