Entity Type: PRC Party-State Agency

The China International Communication Center, established in November 1993 and operational by April 1994, functions as a key external propaganda institution now under the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party. Originally subordinate to the State Council Information Office, with the Ministry of Finance (财政部) exercising ownership rights, the center evolved into a comprehensive international communications organization operating 26 overseas branches across 14 countries. Its multifaceted operations include publishing books and periodicals in over 40 languages, producing multimedia content, maintaining government websites including China Human Rights Network (中国人权网) and China Xinjiang Network (中国新疆网), organizing cultural exchanges, and publishing multilingual urban lifestyle magazines like “That’s China” (城市漫步). Following organizational restructuring, CICC has become instrumental in advancing Beijing’s global messaging strategy, with President Xi Jinping, according to state media reports from the organization’s 70th anniversary in 2019, setting expectations for its development into “a world-class, comprehensive international communication institution” (世界一流的综合性国际传播机构) to shape international perceptions of China through carefully coordinated narrative management across traditional and digital platforms.

The Yangjiang Municipal Government (陽江市人民政府) is the prefecture-level administrative authority for Yangjiang (陽江), a coastal city of approximately 2.5 million in Guangdong Province. The municipality actively markets itself as a “Maritime Silk Road Famous City” (海絲名城), leveraging the ancient “Nanhai No. 1” (南海一號) shipwreck and local maritime heritage sites as cultural assets for state-directed development initiatives. The government hosted China Media Group’s December 2025 Silk Road Television Community Summit, providing logistical support and curated historical tours for international media delegations. Yangjiang’s economy centers on manufacturing, particularly wind energy equipment and marine engineering, while local authorities emphasize the city’s historical role in maritime trade routes within official promotional materials and international engagement activities.

The Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party’s Yunnan Provincial Committee serves as the primary ideological oversight body for the province, controlling all state media operations including its flagship publication, Yunnan Daily (云南日报). Based in Kunming, the provincial capital, the department executes propaganda directives from both central party headquarters and provincial leadership to ensure “correct” political messaging across all local media platforms. The department regulates information dissemination, shapes public discourse, orchestrates propaganda initiatives, and supervises cultural activities throughout Yunnan Province — guaranteeing that all communication channels uniformly promote party doctrine and reinforce official policy positions.

The Leading Group for Promoting the Belt and Road Initiative (推进”一带一路”建设工作领导小组) is a high-level Chinese government coordinating body that oversees Belt and Road Initiative implementation and policy. Chaired by senior Party leadership, the Leading Group directs strategic planning, coordinates across ministries including the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Ministry of Commerce, and State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), and issues major policy guidance on BRI development. Its office (推进”一带一路”建设工作领导小组办公室) handles day-to-day coordination, monitoring, and evaluation of BRI activities. The Leading Group directs China’s official Belt and Road portal (中国一带一路网) in close coordination with Xinhua Silk Road, under the official Xinhua News Agency.

The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in France is China’s chief diplomatic mission to France. The mission was established on January 27, 1964, following the normalization of diplomatic relations between the People’s Republic of China and France. The embassy has generated considerable controversy in recent years over its commentary on France’s domestic affairs and the behaviour of its staff. In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the embassy published an unsigned commentary on its website alleging that nursing home staff had “abandoned their posts overnight” and left elderly residents “to die of hunger and disease.” The French Foreign Ministry summoned the Chinese ambassador to protest the remarks, which French officials said bore no relation to reality. The embassy has also engaged in direct criticism of French media outlets, scholars, and legislators who have raised concerns about China’s policies. In March 2021, former Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye (盧沙野) published an opinion piece attacking French researcher Antoine Bondaz, who had criticized France’s relationship with China, calling him a “small-time hoodlum” and an “ideological troll.” The unprecedented personal attack on an academic drew swift condemnation from French officials and the scholarly community. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian described the ambassador’s language as “unacceptable” and summoned him for an explanation.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (中國科學院) is China’s national academy for natural sciences and the government’s highest scientific consultancy body. Founded with historical origins in the Republican-era Academia Sinica, CAS operates as “the world’s largest research organization” with 106 research institutes, two universities, and over 150,000 employees and students. The academy describes itself as “the linchpin of China’s drive to explore and harness high technology and the natural sciences for the benefit of China and the world,” though it functions primarily as a state-directed scientific apparatus advancing government priorities. CAS played crucial roles in China’s nuclear weapons program and computing development, while today co-organizing major government initiatives like the World Artificial Intelligence Conference alongside multiple Chinese ministries.

The Propaganda Office of the CCP Guangdong Provincial Committee (中共廣東省委宣傳部) is the chief office under provincial CCP leadership charged with media control, content regulation, and enforcement of “correct guidance of public opinion” (正確輿論導向). The office oversees all news organizations, publishing houses, cultural institutions, and online platforms within Guangdong province, ensuring alignment with Party directives on messaging and narrative control. It supervises provincial-level media entities, approves major journalism appointments, and coordinates propaganda work across municipal and county-level propaganda departments throughout the province.