Established in 2010 through the merger of local radio and television entities, the Guangzhou Broadcasting Network, or GZBN (廣州廣播電視台), operates major channels such as GZBN Comprehensive and News, alongside the Nanguo City 4K (南國都市4K) channel — which the network claims was the first 4K station at a municipal level in China. As a municipally-owned institution (事业单位) under the direct leadership of the Guangzhou Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CCP) and the Guangzhou Municipal Government, GZBN serves as the state-run municipal broadcasting outlet for the southern city of Guangzhou. Headquartered at the Guangzhou International Media Port (廣州國際媒體港), GZBN led a transition toward high-definition broadcasting by becoming the nation’s first institution to completely phase out standard-definition channels.
The Ningbo International Communication Center (寧波國際傳播中心) was established on May 8, 2024, as a joint initiative by the Ningbo Daily Press Group (寧波日報報業集團) and the Ningbo Radio and Television Group (寧波廣播電視集團). ICCs coordinate external propaganda and shape international narratives about Chinese cities and regions, part of efforts that have accelerated since 2022 to “innovate” foreign-directed propaganda under a province-focused strategy. Ningbo’s ICC aims to position the city as a model of “Chinese-style modernization” and leverage its historical role in Sino-foreign exchanges. The center’s creation followed Xi Jinping’s 2023 inspection tour of Zhejiang Province, during which he tasked the province with “actively exploring the construction of modern Chinese civilization” (在建設中華民族現代文明上積極探索). The center launched a “Hundred-Thousand-Ten Thousand” plan in 2024 that includes organizing 100 photography exhibitions at overseas factories of Ningbo enterprises, selecting 100 industry ambassadors, and deploying thousands of journalists to provide international communication services for local companies.
The Zhejiang International Communication Center (浙江省國際傳播中心) was established in Hangzhou on May 31, 2024, as the province’s response to a national strategy by Xi Jinping to enhance the country’s external propaganda and “discourse power” by leveraging the resources of provincial, city and even county-level media and propaganda offices. The center, which is under the guidance of the Zhejiang Provincial Propaganda Office, said during its launch ceremony that it aims to “full-heartedly tell the story of General Secretary Xi Jinping” (用心講好習近平總書記的故事) and showcase “China’s governance” (中國之治) through a “Zhejiang window” (浙江之窗). The center operates the “In Zhejiang” English-language news website covering news from the Zhejiang province, alongside television channels that organizers claim reach more than 50 million viewers across 200 countries and regions, and social media accounts totaling more than 8 million followers. The center is directly overseen by Zhejiang Daily Press Group (浙江日報報業集團) and has signed cooperation agreements with central state media, including the People’s Daily, Xinhua News Agency, and China Daily, as well as Hong Kong and overseas outlets. Zhejiang has become home to 16 municipal-level international communication centers, five times the national average.
China Central Television or CCTV (中央電視台), established in 1958, is China’s national television broadcaster. Operated by the National Radio and Television Administration under the CCP’s Central Propaganda Department, with Shen Haixiong (慎海雄) as the current president. CCTV functions as a key player in state media, providing news, education, culture, and entertainment services. Headquartered in Beijing, it serves as a vital component of China’s propaganda network. It produces news broadcasts three times daily, with its flagship evening news program “CCTV Tonight” (新闻联播) reaching nearly 500 million viewers and requiring mandatory carriage by local stations.
The Paper (澎湃新聞) is a news platform operated by the CCP-run Shanghai United Media Group (上海報業集團) that launched on July 22, 2014. Media scholar and former Southern Weekly journalist Fang Kecheng has described the outlet as having “the face of commercial media, and the heart of Party media,” while David Bandurski, the director of the China Media Project, called it an experiment in producing propaganda content that can “attract” and “attach” to mobile audiences. Between 2018 and 2023, The Paper said it received over 400 domestic and international awards. The news platform covers current affairs, finance, and lifestyle content through a mobile-first app and website. It features sections including “Striking Tigers” (打虎記) for anticorruption coverage (generally focusing on small-time cases of malfeasance), and “Translating China” (譯中國), which aggregates foreign reporting on China.
Haiwainet officially launched on November 6, 2012, as the official website and new media platform of the overseas edition of the Chinese Communist Party’s People’s Daily (人民日報). The overseas edition of People’s Daily was first published on July 1, 1985. Haiwainet was established through Haiqiao (Beijing) Cultural Media Co., Ltd., which was founded on August 27, 2012, and later renamed to Haiwainet Media Co., Ltd. on March 1, 2014. In March 2018, allegations emerged suggesting connections between Haiwainet and All America TV Station in Pasadena, with claims they operated as “one team under two brands.” Haiwainet denied these allegations, stating it had “no relationship” with either All America TV Station or its executive director Zhang Huijun (張慧君). Seattle-based AAT Television Corporation (亞美衛視) also distanced itself from All America TV Station.
Xinhua Silk Road (新华丝路网) advertises itself as a comprehensive information service platform focused on China’s Belt and Road Initiative, operated since 2015 by the China Economic Information Service (中国经济信息社有限公司), or CEIS, under Xinhua News Agency. The platform positions itself as providing databases, information consulting, think tank research, and international communication services to Belt and Road participants. Key products and services include a multilingual Belt and Road database, a global project opportunities and risk analysis system, an overseas brand voice monitoring system for Chinese companies, international business coordination services, and Xinhua enterprise information services (pointing to the expansion of state media content distribution globally). Xinhua Silk Road also manages the construction and maintenance of the official website of the Leading Group for Promoting the Belt and Road Initiative (中国一带一路网), directly linking it to the highest levels of Chinese government Belt and Road coordination. In July 2023, coinciding with the platform’s eighth anniversary, Xinhua Silk Road launched a “Belt and Road Project Case Database” tracking over 500 key Belt and Road projects across seven sectors including infrastructure, industrial investment, industrial park development, financial cooperation, energy resources, logistics, and cultural exchange. The database features exclusive research reports on state-owned enterprise and private enterprise participation in Belt and Road projects compiled in cooperation with the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission Research Center, revealing close coordination between the platform and China’s economic planning apparatus.
Gansu Daily (甘肅日報) is the official mouthpiece newspaper of the Gansu Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (中共甘肅省委機關報), established on September 1, 1949, and headquartered in Gansu Province, China. The organization positions itself as a comprehensive party newspaper covering the entire province and operates an array of related media under the direct oversight of the propaganda office of Gansu province. The publication was founded when the Gansu Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was established in July 1949, with the inaugural issue signed by Peng Dehuai, then commander of the First Field Army. The newspaper adopted the masthead personally inscribed by Mao Zedong on December 1, 1949, which continues to be used today.
China Today (今日中國) magazine was established in 1952 as China Reconstructs by Soong Ching-ling (宋慶齡), widow of Sun Yat-sen and later honorary president of the People’s Republic of China, in collaboration with naturalized Polish-Chinese journalist Israel Epstein. The magazine was renamed China Today in 1990 and is now operated under the China International Communications Group (CICG), which was established in October 1949. The publication describes itself as an official outlet intended to promote knowledge of China’s culture, geography, economy, and social affairs to international audiences. China Today currently publishes nine printed and 10 digital versions in multiple language,s including English, French, German, Arabic, Turkish, and Chinese, while also operating related magazines such as CHINAFRICA, Dialogue Chine-France, and Potala. According to the organization’s materials, the Center distributes over two million copies annually to more than 160 countries and regions through offices in Egypt and South Africa, and maintains partnerships with publishers in France, Turkey, and Senegal.)magazine was established in 1952 as China Reconstructs by Soong Ching-ling (宋慶齡), widow of Sun Yat-sen and later honorary president of the People’s Republic of China, in collaboration with naturalized Polish-Chinese journalist Israel Epstein. The magazine was renamed China Today in 1990 and is now operated under the Center for Europe and Africa, part of the China International Communications Group (CICG), which was established in October 1949 as the China International Publishing Group. The publication is described as an official outlet intended to promote knowledge of China’s culture, geography, economy and social affairs to international audiences. China Today currently publishes nine printed and 10 digital versions in multiple languages including English, French, German, Arabic, Turkish, and Chinese, while also operating related magazines such as CHINAFRICA, Dialogue Chine-France, and Potala. According to the organization’s materials, the Center distributes over two million copies annually to more than 160 countries and regions through offices in Egypt and South Africa, and maintains partnerships with publishers in France, Turkey, and Senegal.
