The Chinese General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) recently announced regulations on Internet games. All types of foreign investments are banned in this market. The ban includes indirect control or investment into domestic companies. Domestic companies importing games are also regulated. Service providers are required to submit the games to the authorities for approval first.
Source: Xinhua, October 10, 2009.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2009-10/10/content_12206841.htm
China recently published its 2009 Culture Blue Book: Report on the Development of Chinese Public Cultural Services.
The "Blue Book" concluded that there were major achievements in the following four public cultural service areas: the nation’s cultural industry spending reached 88.8 billion in 2008; the cultural system and policy were reformed and renovated; cultural soft power improved; cultural relic preservation reached a new level.
Source: People’s Daily, October 11, 2009
http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/1026/10171912.html
On October 8, Athens University of Economics held a grand opening ceremony for the Confucius Institute, a joint program with China’s University of International Business and Economics. This is the first Confucius Institute opened in Greece.
Source: Xinhua, October 9, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2009-10/09/content_12199193.htm
According to Xinhua on October 8th, 2009, “China Daily – U.S. Version” has become the important source for mainstream American society to get information on China. As early as 1983, the third year of its establishment, “China Daily” started its circulation in the United States. Currently, “China Daily” is preparing to launch its “European version,” “Asian Version,” and multi-language versions so as to enhance its overseas influence.
“Let the world understand China and let China into the world” has been the mission of "China Daily," China’s national daily newspaper in the English language. After nearly 30 years of development, “China Daily” has become the most frequently quoted newspaper by foreign mainstream media. The U.S. White House subscribes to “China Daily” every year. Reading “China Daily” has become part of the White House’s high-level officials’ daily work.
Source: Xinhua, October 8, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2009-10/08/content_12195288.htm
Xinhua published a report on October 8, 2009 summarizing the growth of the Chinese media:
| 1950 |
2008 | |
| Newspapers | 253 print editions with a total circulation of about 2.5 million copies | 2000 print editions with a total circulation of over 200 million copies |
| Radio and Television |
65 People’s Radio Stations with 65 domestic broadcasting programs | Over 2000 radio and television stations with 2436 radio programs and 3199 TV programs, respectively covering 95.96% and 96.95% of China’s total population |
| Internet | N/A | 338 million Internet users 155 million people surfing the Internet through mobile phones |
The greater impact of the media is on people’s spirits. Professor Hu Zhifeng from Communication University of China said, “Media affect people’s perception of society, disseminate ideas on values, intervene in setting social and psychological trends and regulate social relations.”
Source: Xinhua, October 8, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-10/08/content_12194045.htm
On October 7, the eve of the World Media Summit held in Beijing, a Xihua report gave statistics on China’s expansion of media outlets since 1978, the year that marked the start of the “reform” era.
Currently, there are 257 radio stations and 277 TV stations nationwide. In 2008, the country published 9,549 periodicals and 1,943 newspapers. The report quoted from the World Association of Newspapers statistics that China’s newspaper market remains the world’s largest, with a daily circulation of 107 million. The official China Internet Network Information Center released that, by the end of July 2009, the population of Internet users exceeded 300 million. By June 3, China was leading the world in number of Internet users, users of broadband, and in the number of country domain name registrations.
Source: Xinhua, October 7, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/misc/2009-10/07/content_12192136.htm
The Chinese government has blocked tens of thousands of web sites that mainly host personal videos, as well as site access means that foreign reporters widely use when they bypass the Chinese government’s technical control. According to Reporters Without Borders (RWB), this has been a nightmare for a lot of Chinese netizens, because Facebook and Twitter are both blocked – along with a large number of blogs. The authorities conducted a comprehensive security control operation, which included security checks on around 4500 reporters from 108 countries.
Source: Radio France International, September 30, 2009
http://www.rfi.fr/actucn/articles/117/article_16471.asp
Qiushi Journal, a publication of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, started its quarterly English journal publication on October 1, translating selected theoretical articles from Qiushi and other important publications.
Established on June 1, 1958 and originally called “Red Flag,” the Chinese version of the official party journal had a makeover on July 1, 1988 and changed its name to Qiushi.
Source: Xinhua, September 30, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-09/30/content_12137151.htm