Entity Type: PRC Overseas Media Outlet

The Oriental Post (非洲華僑週報), literally “Africa Overseas Chinese Weekly,” and sometimes called on its website “Chinese in Africa,” was launched in July 2013 as the African weekly edition of the overseas edition of the CCP’s official People’s Daily newspaper. The link between the publications is noted clearly on the masthead of The Oriental Post, where the People’s Daily masthead is also prominent. The publication is operated by the Africa Chinese Media Group (非洲華文傳媒集團), part of the Global Max Media Group (Pty) Ltd (環球廣域傳媒集團), a Chinese comprehensive media conglomerate headquartered in Botswana, southern Africa. Like the People’s Daily and many other official CCP media, The Oriental Post offers a full digital version of the paper on its website. The newspaper lists directly under its masthead the phone numbers of eight Chinese embassies in Africa, including Botswana, Zambia, Angola and Tanzania. The paper clearly mirrors official state media inside China, reporting most prominently on CCP meetings and official business. Its “friendship links” include the United Front Work Department of the CCP, the Chinese Embassy in Botswana and other official state entities.

Linked to the Chinese state and key to its outreach and propaganda efforts on the African continent, Global Max Media Group (Pty) Ltd (環球廣域傳媒集團) describes itself as Africa’s most comprehensive media company with the “most platforms, languages, and coverage,” headquartered in Botswana with operational centers in South Africa, Tanzania, and Nigeria. The company, launched in 2012, claims over 300 staff across Africa and China, operating in broadcasting, film production, digital media, print, and event organization. The group emphasizes its “close ties” (密切聯繫) with Chinese embassies across Africa and African embassies in China to “promote China-Africa friendship and spread Chinese culture and China’s voice” (促進中非友好和中國文化、中國聲音的傳播). It organizes cultural events like “Chinese New Year in Tanzania” (坦桑過大年) and works with Confucius Institutes on “Chinese Bridge” (漢語橋) language competitions. While positioning itself as serving local communities through charity work, the group’s stated mission of spreading “China’s voice” and extensive diplomatic connections suggest its role as a vehicle for Chinese soft power projection across the African continent. The group maintains active Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. It claims elsewhere to be the “largest Chinese media group in Africa,” with “nearly 10 media platforms of more than 8 languages in the African region.”

Africa Chinese Media Group, based in Botswana, southern Africa, is a subsidiary of Global Max Media Group (Pty) Ltd (環球廣域傳媒集團), a conglomerate with close links to the Chinese state. The group claims, alongside its parent, to be Africa’s media company with the “most platforms, languages, and broadest coverage” (媒體平台最多、語種最全、覆蓋面最廣的媒體公司), headquartered in Gaborone with three operational centers across the continent covering most African countries. The company positions itself as building “regional mainstream media” (區域性強力主流媒體) to “spread Chinese culture and enhance China’s overseas image” (傳播中國文化、提升中國在海外形象). Its operations span multilingual broadcasting, video production, digital media, print publications, advertising, public relations, and organizing large-scale cultural and charitable events, serving as a vehicle for Chinese soft power projection across Africa. Led by chairman Nan Gengxu (南庚戌), who advocates transitioning from serving Chinese communities to influencing African mainstream society and policymakers, the group publishes The Oriental Post (非洲華僑週報), a paper that was launched in July 2013 as the African weekly edition of the overseas edition of the CCP’s official People’s Daily newspaper.