Entity Type: PRC Media Group

Jishi Media (吉視傳媒) is a Chinese state-controlled cable television operator founded in May 2001 and headquartered in Changchun, the capital of China’s northeast Jilin province. The state-run Jilin Radio and TV Station (吉林廣播電視台) is its largest shareholder and controlling entity, holding a direct 28.18 percent stake according to registration records as of May 2026 — and being the ultimate shareholder of a majority of the other minor shareholders in the entity. The company manages and maintains the province’s cable television infrastructure, serving 5.19 million subscribers with cable TV, broadband internet, and digital television services, including on-demand and interactive content. It operates 60 subsidiaries and branch offices across Jilin province, Beijing, and Hainan, employs more than 7,000 people, and has built a fiber-optic network spanning 61,000 kilometers across the province. In February 2012, Jishi Media listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange under the ticker 601929.

China International Television Corporation (中國國際電視總公司), or CITVC, founded in 1984, is a state-owned media company funded by China Central Television (CCTV) that handles international sales and distribution of Chinese television content. Following asset reorganization in 1997, the corporation expanded into a diversified media conglomerate with operations spanning program production, distribution, advertising, audience research, and technical services. The company, now under the umbrella of the Central Propaganda Department-administered China Media Group (CMG), markets CCTV’s content internationally and distributes 33 foreign satellite channels from the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and other countries across China. 

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 Television Corporation (中國國際電視總公司, CITVC) is a wholly state-owned subsidiary of China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台), established in 1984 to handle international content distribution and co-production partnerships. The corporation serves as CMG’s primary commercial arm for global media operations, with over RMB 10 billion in assets and annual revenue. CITVC founded the Silk Road Television Community (絲綢之路電視共同體) in 2016 as an international broadcasting alliance now encompassing 149 media institutions across 64 countries. The company operates content distribution channels in North America through its California-based subsidiary China Television Corporation (中國電視有限公司, CTC) and has been designated a “Key National Cultural Export Enterprise” by Chinese authorities, positioning it as a central platform for Beijing’s international media influence operations and Belt and Road Initiative (一帶一路) propaganda dissemination.

The Guilin Beibei Te Electronic Audio-Video Publishing House (桂林貝貝特電子音像出版社有限責任公司) was established in June 2005 in Guilin, Guangxi, with Lai Zhiwen (賴志文) serving as its legal representative. The company specializes in electronic and audio-visual publishing, including electronic publications, online publishing, and audio-visual production services.  The publishing house is wholly owned by Guangxi Normal University Press Group, a state-owned publisher that has received commendations from the Central Propaganda Department and says it “adheres to the correct political direction” and “effectively puts social benefits in the first place.”

Shanghai Media Group, also known as Radio and Television Station of Shanghai (上海廣播電視台), is one of China’s largest state-owned media conglomerates, headquartered in Shanghai. Formed in 2001 through a merger of Shanghai’s People’s Radio Station, East Radio Shanghai, Shanghai Television, and Oriental Television, SMG operates a comprehensive portfolio including Dragon Television, multiple specialized channels, and radio stations. The group launched China’s second English-language news channel, International Channel Shanghai (ICS), in 2008. SMG owns Yicai Global (formerly China Business Network), which received a $193.5 million investment from Alibaba Group in 2015 for a 30 percent stake. In 2020, the U.S. State Department designated Yicai Global as a foreign mission of the Chinese government. SMG has partnerships with Disney for film development and produces content across news, entertainment, sports, and financial programming, spanning television, radio, and digital platforms.

The Guangming Daily, founded on June 16, 1949, is a major national newspaper directly under the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee, and administered by the Central Propaganda Department. Initially established by the China Democratic League (中國民主同盟), the paper later became a joint publication of various democratic parties before coming under direct CCP control in 1982. Before it brought directly under the CCP, the paper was a favorite of intellectuals in China, and contributors included the philosopher and historian Feng Youlan (馮友蘭) and the writer and translator Ba Jin (巴金). Following the 1957 Anti-Rightist Campaign, when 18 staff members were labeled “rightists,” including the liberal Chinese journalist and editor-in-chief Chu Anping (儲安平), the paper came under the direct supervision of the CCP’s Propaganda and United Front Work departments. Today, the Guangming Daily Media Group operates multiple publications and reportedly maintains 37 domestic bureaus and correspondents in 23 countries.

Established on June 7, 1949, Jiangxi Daily serves as the primary mouthpiece of the Jiangxi Provincial Communist Party Committee, and is proud to claim that the calligraphy for its masthead written by Mao Zedong. The paper, which claims a circulation of 200,000 copies, began international distribution in September 1984 — though independent verification of these circulation figures is unavailable. According to Baidu Baike, citing the China Journalism Yearbook (中国新闻年鉴), the newspaper employs 656 staff members, including 216 editors and reporters. The newspaper, like all CCP-run outlets, states explicitly that it adheres to “correct public opinion guidance” and propaganda directives.