CITIC Group Acquires Majority Stake in Medea

In April 2020, the Chinese state-run conglomerate CITIC Group exercised a strategic option to increase its ownership in Médea from a 30 percent minority to a 57 percent majority stake. This transaction, executed through CITIC’s investment arm Rainbow Wisdom Investment, granted the Chinese Ministry of Finance significant leverage over the Czech media landscape. Médea acts as a critical intermediary, said media reports in the Czech Republic, managing approximately 3 billion CZK (about 120 million US dollars) in annual advertising budgets. Analysts expressed concern that this financial control could create a chilling effect on journalism, effectively incentivizing accommodating outlets with advertising revenue while penalizing those critical of Beijing. The move followed the collapse of CEFC China Energy, whose assets were absorbed by CITIC to maintain China’s institutional influence.