Home and Abroad News Press is a Hong Kong-based news and publishing institution established on March 8, 2001, with approval from the Hong Kong SAR government. It is currently operating under Home and Abroad News Press (Hong Kong) Company Limited (中外新聞社(香港)有限公司), incorporated on July 6, 2011, one of several Hong Kong corporate vehicles of a similar name under which the agency has operated. It publishes Zhongwai News magazine and operates the Zhongwai News Network. Its correspondent network spans 49 countries and regions, with branch offices in more than ten countries including the United States, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, and Australia. In 2006, the agency claimed designation as a “mainstream outlet for external propaganda” (对外宣传主流媒体) by three organizations describing themselves as UN-affiliated bodies, though independent verification of those bodies’ UN status has not been established. “External propaganda,” or waixuan (外宣), is a term used in official CCP discourse to refer to the role of state media in communicating the agendas of the Party-state. The agency received approval to report from Taiwan in 2010 and established a Beijing bureau in 2011 with authorization from the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office.