Entity Type: PRC Media Group

China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台), also known as “Voice of China,” was established on March 21, 2018, under the direct control of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Propaganda Department (中共中央宣傳部). China’s largest state media conglomerate was formed through the merger of China Central Television (中國中央電視台), founded in 1958, China National Radio (中央人民廣播電台), and China Radio International (中國國際廣播電台). The organization operates 47 television channels and 17 radio frequency bands, with claims of maintaining bureaus in 63 countries and regions. CMG states its flagship news program Xinwen Lianbo (新聞聯播) “attracts an average daily audience of 120 million” and claims the 2020 Spring Festival Gala was watched by 1.232 billion people in China and overseas.” The organization broadcasts in more than 40 languages through subsidiaries, including China Global Television Network (CGTN). As the China Media Project notes, CMG has been “portrayed by state media sources as a key step in advancing China’s international transmission capacity and telling China’s story well,” serving as the Party’s central platform for domestic propaganda and international broadcasting.

The Ningxia Daily Media Group (寧夏日報報業集團) is an institution directly affiliated with the Propaganda Office of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), established as a media conglomerate on July 26, 2006, and headquartered in Yinchuan. The group encompasses seven newspapers, two magazines, one website, and one mobile newspaper platform. The group is responsible for news propaganda and public opinion guidance (輿論導向) under the provincial leadership, operating with a 12-member Party Committee and 13-member Editorial Committee. The conglomerate operates through five service departments and eleven business units, including the All-Media Command Center, while maintaining subsidiary units such as New Message Daily (新消息報), Ningxia Internet News Center (寧夏互聯網新聞中心), and Little Dragon Learning News (小龍人學習報). The group has engaged in media cooperation activities internationally, including participation in Belt and Road Initiative exchanges with Southeast Asian media organizations.

Founded in 1949 and headquartered in Guangzhou, Nanfang Media Group is one of China’s most internationally recognized media conglomerates, with a strong commercial and professional spirit in spite of its oversight by the propaganda office of Guangdong province. The group operates a comprehensive multimedia ecosystem covering over 460 million users through its integrated communication system (全媒体传播体系). The group operates across multiple segments, including publishing, advertising, printing services, and logistics. It is the parent company of some of China’s most vibrant and professional media outlets, including Southern Weekly (南方周末), Southern Metropolis Daily (南方都市报), Nandu Weekly (南都周刊), and Southern People Weekly (南方人物周刊). In 2024, new media and diversified revenue accounted for over 70% of the group’s income, with the combined brand value of its flagship publications reaching 219.81 billion yuan. In January 2013, during Xi Jinping’s early tenure as Communist Party general secretary, the group gained international attention when Southern Weekly employees went on strike protesting excessive censorship—marking a pivotal moment in China’s media landscape.

Changsha Media Group (長沙市廣播電視台集團) is a state-run broadcaster directly under the leadership of the Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Changsha, the capital of China’s southern Hunan province. The group operates four radio frequencies and five television channels, including news, politics and law, mobile subway TV, shopping, and cultural tourism channels. Its business spans film and television investment, cable network operations, and theater management. The conglomerate oversees 13 subsidiary units, including the publicly-listed Zhongguang Tianze (中廣天擇), which became China’s first state-controlled program production company to list on the main board in 2017. With nearly 1,500 employees and total assets of 2.5 billion yuan, the group promotes itself as a “market-oriented and corporate transformation” of “mainstream media” — in this context referring specifically to CCP-run media — to enhance competitiveness while maintaining state control. Its core operations include broadcasting, television, new media, and video content production, positioning it as a key instrument for local CCP messaging and cultural influence.

The Chongqing Daily News Group was established on October 18, 2001, as the official media arm of the Chongqing Municipal Communist Party Committee. Its flagship publication, Chongqing Daily (重慶日報), was founded on August 5, 1952, with then-party leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) personally calligraphing the masthead and providing an inscription during his tenure as Southwest Bureau Secretary. The group claims to have expanded from three newspapers before Chongqing’s designation as a centrally-administered municipality to a conglomerate encompassing 15 newspapers, 3 magazines, 15 websites, and over 20 commercial subsidiaries. While positioning itself as implementing “dual-wheel drive” combining “news undertakings and business operations,” the organization functions as a state propaganda apparatus under party directives rather than as an independent journalistic enterprise, reflecting the broader structure of Chinese state media where editorial control remains subordinate to political objectives.

China International Communications Group, also known as China International Publishing Group (中國國際出版集團), is a state-controlled media organization established in 1949 and owned by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party. Headquartered in Beijing, it operates as a foreign-language publishing and communications enterprise claiming to “introduce China to foreign countries.” The organization reportedly runs 20 overseas branches in countries including the United States, Britain, Germany, and Mexico, employing approximately 3,000 staff members, including about 100 foreign workers. CICG publishes over 3,000 book titles and around 50 journals annually in more than 10 languages, including notable periodicals like China Today (今日中國) and Beijing Review. As of September 2024, independent media researchers classified the organization as “State Controlled Media,” challenging its claims of editorial independence.