Entity Type: International Communication Center (ICC)

SMG International (上海文广國際傳播中心) is an international communication center established on October 23, 2023, by the Shanghai Media Group (上海廣播電視台/上海文廣集團), the state-owned media conglomerate operating under the oversight of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. The center’s mission is to position Shanghai as “the vanguard in shaping Chinese-style modernized urban civilization and international communication.” The center is apparently meant to function as the primary center for international propaganda emanating from the municipal-level financial center, presenting it as the exemplar of “Chinese-style modernization” to global audiences — this being a key propaganda concept introduced by Xi Jinping in early 2021. SMG International, which integrates resources from SMG’s television and radio operations, claims to maintain production capabilities in seven foreign languages through a network of five overseas correspondent bureaus. The center’s flagship product, ShanghaiEye (魔都眼), was launched on November 8, 2023, and operates as a 24-hour YouTube livestream, offering interviews, world news, and videos of foreign influencers visiting politically sensitive regions such as Xinjiang to counteract international allegations of human rights abuses. The center’s documentary productions have also included the three-part series “Chinese Puzzle: Learning Chinese in America,” which profiles Americans studying Chinese, framing language learning as a tool to eliminate biases and correct misunderstandings about China.

The Wenzhou International Communication Center, launched in May 2024, is led by the propaganda office of the Wenzhou Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. The center works with the Wenzhou News Media Center (温州市新闻传媒中心), a local government-run media office founded in 2023 — and identified at the time as a “new milestone in the development of [the city’s propaganda work.” It is part of a growing national network in China of ICCs meant to strengthen China’s global communication by harnessing the strength of local media groups and propaganda offices.

Established in 2018 as the Chongqing International Communication Center (重慶國際傳播中心) to serve as the “main force” for the city’s overseas promotion, the center was upgraded in 2023 as the Western International Communication Center (西部国际传播中心), or WICC. It is operated by the Chongqing Daily News Group (重庆日报报业集团) under the guidance of the municipality’s provincial-level propaganda office. The center manages iChongqing — a multi-platform media network targeting international audiences through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other platforms censored within China itself. The center claims to have “expanded Chongqing’s overseas influence” through its foreign-language content, with officials reporting that Chongqing’s international exposure ranks “fifth nationally” and “first in western China.”It describes itself as China’s first provincial-level international communication center and bills itself as a hub for international communication serving western China and facing the world. The center runs a “3+X” content matrix built around three platforms: the iChongqing English-language website, the Bridging News app, and the Let’s Meet online TV program, which is co-produced with Chongqing Satellite TV. The WICC claims more than 24 million overseas users and over 4.74 billion total views across its platforms, according to the center. It is part of Xi Jinping’s broader drive, accelerating from 2021, to leverage provincial and municipal media resources and propaganda offices in a centrally directed campaign to “tell China’s story” to global audiences. In April 2025, the WICC expanded its overseas distribution network by launching a dedicated Let’s Meet channel on Sri Lanka Mirror, a Colombo-based news outlet, marking what iChongqing described as the platform’s first overseas “station.”