China Radio International

China Radio International (CRI) is a state-owned international radio broadcaster of China. It is currently headquartered in Babaoshan area of Beijing's Shijingshan District. It was founded on December 3, 1941, as Radio Peking. It later adopted the pinyin form Radio Beijing.

"Radio Beijing" redirects here. For the municipal radio station (Radio Beijing Corporation), see Beijing Renmin Guangbo Diantai.
TypeState media
Country
China
Founded3 December 1941
HeadquartersBeijing, China
Broadcast area
Worldwide
Owner China Media Group
(Government of the People's Republic of China)
Launch date
18 April 1978 (1978-04-18)
Former names
  • Radio Peking
  • Radio Beijing
Official website
www.cri.cn
China Radio International
Simplified Chinese中国国际
广播电台
Traditional Chinese中國國際
廣播電台
China
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It has 32 overseas correspondent bureaux and 6 main regional bureaux, and broadcasts over 2,700 hours of programming each day (24 hours in English), including news, current affairs, and features on politics, the economy, culture, science and technology. Its overseas reporting involves 65 languages. More than 50 shortwave transmitters are used to cover most of the world; it is broadcast via the internet and numerous satellites; and its programs are rebroadcast by many local AM and FM radio stations worldwide.

CRI states that it "endeavours to promote favourable relations between the PRC and the world" but upholds the PRC's official policies, including on controversial issues such as the political status of Taiwan and the Dalai Lama. As with other nations' external broadcasters such as Voice of America, BBC World Service and Radio Australia, CRI claims to "play a significant role in the PRC's soft power strategy" and "going out" policy, aiming to expand the influence of Chinese culture and media in a global stage. It is trying to employ new media to compete with other international media. Unlike those broadcasters, CRI's control via indirect majority ownership or financial support of radio stations in various nations is not published.[1][2][3]

China Radio International is today the international radio arm of the China Media Group after the first session of the 13th National People's Congress in March 2018 which created the CMG. In February 2020, the United States Department of State designed CRI and other Chinese state-owned media outlets as "foreign missions."[4]

History

Radio was first introduced in China in the 1920s and 1930s. However, few households had radio receivers. A few cities had commercial stations. Most usage of radio was for political purpose, frequently on a local area level.

The Chinese Communist Party first used radio in Yanan Shaanxi Province in March 1940 with a transmitter imported from Moscow. Xinhua New Chinese Radio (XNCR) went on the air from Yanan on December 30, 1940. XNCR transmitted to a larger geographical area after 1945, and its programs became more regular and formalised with broadcasts of news, official announcements, war bulletins, and art and literary programs.

The English service started on September 11, 1947, transmitting as XNCR from a cave in Shahe in the Taihang Mountains,[5] when China was in the midst of a civil war, to announce newly conquered areas and broadcast a Chinese political and cultural perspective to the world at large.[6][7] The station moved from the Taihang Mountains to the capital, Peking, when The People's Republic of China was formed in 1949. Its name was changed to Radio Peking on April 10, 1950, and to Radio Beijing in 1983. On January 1, 1993, the name of the station was again changed, this time to China Radio International, in order to avoid any confusion with local Beijing radio broadcasting. Its online broadcasting platform: China International Broadcasting Network (CIBN) was formally established in 2011, as a joint venture of China Radio International, Huawen Media Investment, JinZhengYuan, Youku, Oriental Times Media and Suning Holdings Group.

Short wave/international broadcasting

CRI broadcasts via shortwave radio, satellite and the Internet in English and numerous other languages (see below). There are also numerous AM and FM relays.

Shortwave broadcasts in English are targeted at North America, South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, Asia and the South Pacific. CRI maintains direct shortwave broadcasts to developed, media-rich countries in North America and Europe, even as major Western broadcasters (such as BBC World Service, Voice of America and Radio Netherlands) reduce or discontinue such broadcasts.

Programming

Mandarin Channel

At the beginning of 1984, it started to broadcast home service to the Beijing area on AM and FM frequencies. The service later expanded to dozens of major cities across the PRC, providing listeners inside the PRC with timely news and reports, music, weather, English and Chinese learning skills, as well as other services.

CRI News Radio (90.5 FM)

CRI News Radio (CRI环球资讯广播) was established on 28 September 2005, which takes advantage of CRI's journalists from all around the world and report international (and partially domestic) news, sport, entertainment and lifestyle programmes for domestic listeners in Mandarin Chinese. Its aim is to make CRI News Radio a first-class national news radio brand and its slogans are 'First News, News First', 'On-the-Spot China, Live World' etc.[8] CRI News Radio can be heard online and in Beijing on the radio on 90.5 FM; in Tianjin 90.6 FM; in Chongqing 91.7 FM; in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau 107.1 FM; in Shandong 89.8 FM; in Anhui 90.1 FM.

Popular Shows

Chinese podcasts

The following programmes can be heard on the Mandarin version of the podcast from the World Radio Network:

This broadcast was originally targeted at London in the United Kingdom. In 2006, they removed the "London" reference, which was part of the introduction as "Ni hao London. Hello London"[10]

CRI in English (846 AM, 1008 AM; 91.5 FM)

The CRI English channels that can be heard online are:

  • China Plus Radio (846 AM in Beijing)
  • EZFM (also known as Easy FM)
  • Round the Clock (Internet only)
    • Voices from Other Lands is a weekly English radio program featuring entrepreneurs who originated outside of China doing business in China, hosted by Guanny Liu.
  • Language Studio (1008 AM in Beijing) - a one-hour programme that teaches English for someone who only knows Mandarin (not to be confused with Chinese Studio). The programme sounds like a kindergarten English lesson in the USA using very simple sentences (e.g. Mary goes to the bank).
  • CRI 91.9 FM (Kenya 91.9 FM)
  • Chinese Studio is a 5-minute segment that follows most CRI English programmes
  • China Drive is an English radio show about life in the PRC
  • CRI Sri Lanka FM 97.9 in Sri Lanka in Sinhala and English (05:00—00:00 Sri Lanka Time)

English Podcasts

CRI offers a list of podcast programs in English:

  • Hourly News
  • The Beijing Hour
  • RoundTable
  • Studio Plus
  • Today
  • Chinese Studio
  • More to Read

Holiday Broadcasts

During major Chinese holidays (dubbed Golden Week), such as Chinese New Year, May Day, and Mid-Autumn Festival, China Radio International typically broadcasts special programmes such as:

  • Growing Up In China (during the May Day holiday)

Most of these programmes are not typical of the broadcast during the other parts of the year. The analogy is similar to Christmas music broadcasts in the United States.

Olympic Radio

In July 2006, CRI launched a new radio station called CRI Olympic Radio at 900 AM in Beijing. This special broadcast was done in Mandarin, Korean, English, Russian, French, Spanish, Arabic, Japanese and German 24 hours a day. This service was terminated in late 2008 after the Beijing Olympics and now the frequency 900 AM is occupied by CRI News Radio which only covers Beijing.

Languages

China Radio International broadcasts in the following languages:[11]

Language Launched Website
AlbanianRadio e Jashtme e Kinës
Arabichttp://arabic.cri.cn
Armenian12 April 2011[12]
Belarusian23 September 2009[13]http://belarusian.cri.cn
Bengalihttp://bengali.cri.cn
Bulgarianhttp://bulgarian.cri.cn
Burmese10 April 1950[14]http://myanmar.cri.cn
CroatianKineski Radio Internacional
Cambodian11 December 2008[15]http://cambodian.cri.cn
Cantonese
Czechhttp://czech.cri.cn
Dutch23 September 2009[13]
English11 September 1947[16]http://english.cri.cn
Esperanto19 December 1964[17]http://esperanto.cri.cn
Estonian
FilipinoRadyo Internasyonal ng Tsina
French5 June 1958[18]http://french.cri.cn
German15 April 1960Radio China International
Greek23 September 2009[13]http://greek.cri.cn
Hausahttp://hausa.cri.cn
Hebrew23 September 2009[13]http://hebrew.cri.cn [19]
Hindi15 March 1959http://hindi.cri.cn
Hungarianhttp://hungarian.cri.cn
IndonesianRadio Internasional Tiongkok
ItalianRadio Cina Internazionale
Japanese3 December 1941[20]
Kazakhhttps://web.archive.org/web/20170908052146/http://kazak.cri.cn/
Korean2 July 1950[21]http://korean.cri.cn/
Laotian20 November 2006[22]http://laos.cri.cn
MalaysianRadio Antarabangsa China
Mandarin
Mongolian1 December 1964Хятадын олон улсын радио
Nepali25 Jun 1975[23]http://nepal.cri.cn
Persianhttp://persian.cri.cn
PolishChińskie Radio Międzynarodowe
Portuguesehttp://portuguese.cri.cn
Pashtohttp://pushtu.cri.cn
Romanian30 August 1968Radio China Internaţional
Russian24 December 1954[24]Международное радио Китая
Serbianhttp://serbian.cri.cn
SinhalaJanuary 1975http://sinhalese.cri.cn
Spanish3 September 1956[25]http://espanol.cri.cn
Swahili6 March 2006[26]http://swahili.cri.cn
Swedish
TamilAugust 1963[27][28]சீன வானொலி
Thaihttp://thai.cri.cn
Tibetanhttps://web.archive.org/web/20190224113849/http://tibet.cri.cn/
Turkishhttp://turkish.cri.cn
UkrainianMay 2008Міжнародне радіо Китаю
Urduhttp://urdu.cri.cn
Uygurhttps://web.archive.org/web/20180116173813/http://uygur.cri.cn/
VietnameseĐài phát thanh quốc tế Trung Quốc

The Tibetan, Uygur and Kazakh services are broadcast in association with local radio stations (Tibet People's Broadcasting Station and Xinjiang People's Broadcasting Station).

Joint ventures

China International Broadcasting Network

China International Broadcasting Network (CIBN, traded as Chinese: 国广东方网络(北京)有限公司, an internet TV, was a joint venture of China Radio International with other companies. The company was owned by Global Broadcasting Media Group (Chinese: 国广环球传媒控股有限公司, a joint venture (50–50) of China Radio International and Chinese: 金正源联合投资控股有限公司, literally JinZhengYuan Union Investment Holding) for 34.0004% stake, Huawen Media Investment for 30.9996% stake, a subsidiary (Chinese: 桂林东方时代投资有限公司) of listed company Oriental Times Media (Chinese: 东方时代网络传媒股份有限公司) for 15% stake, the operator of Youku (Chinese: 合一信息技术（北京）有限公司) for 10% stake and Suning Holdings Group, the parent company of PPTV for 10% stake.[29]

GBTimes

CRI owns 60% of Finland-based GBTimes. GBTimes is headed by Zhao Yinong and operates radio stations across Europe that broadcast CRI-produced content.[30]

See also

References

Citations
  1. Qing, Koh Gui; Shiffman, John (2 November 2015). "Beijing's covert radio network airs China-friendly news across Washington, and the world". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2 November 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  2. Shiffman, John; Qing, Koh Gui (2015-11-02). "FCC, Justice Department investigate covert Chinese radio network". Reuters. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  3. "The International Metropolitan Broadcast Media Cooperation Forum". Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  4. Jakes, Lara; Myers, Steven Lee (2020-02-18). "U.S. Designates China's Official Media as Operatives of the Communist State". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
  5. "CRI Marks China's First English Radio Show." (Archive) CRI English. November 25, 2011. Retrieved on November 16, 2013.
  6. Chang, Won Ho, "Mass Media in China: The History and the Future", Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1989, pp. 151-152.
  7. China Radio International, History and Milestones: CRI English Service (Archive)
  8. "Ѷ㲥 CRI News Radio". Archived from the original on 2012-05-23. Retrieved 2012-06-25.
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-10-14. Retrieved 2017-10-02.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. China Broadcast Archived 2006-10-06 at the UK Government Web Archive
  11. "CRI Online". cri.cn. Archived from the original on 2015-02-13. Retrieved 2015-02-15.
  12. "CRI Launches Radio Station in Armenia". english.cri.cn. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  13. "CRI Online Launches New Language Services". www.chinadaily.com.cn. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  14. "CRI Burmese". myanmar.cri.cn. Archived from the original on 2019-10-02. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  15. "Cambodia Friendship Radio". xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  16. 中央人民广播电台研究室《解放区广播历史资料选编 1940–1949》. Beijing: 中国广播电视出版社, 1985.
  17. Skizo pri Esperanto-elsendo de ĈRI Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, CRI.
  18. Service français Archived 2015-09-15 at the Wayback Machine, CRI.
  19. Yellinek, Roie (2020-02-21). "The Chinese Penetration of Israeli Media". Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  20. 日本語部紹介 Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, CRI.
  21. 조선어부 소개 및 연계방식 Archived 2015-09-01 at the Wayback Machine, CRI.
  22. "Chinese, Lao Presidents Launch CRI's New Radio Service in Laos". english.cri.cn. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  23. "नेपाली सेवाको संक्षिप्त परिचय - China Radio International". nepal.cri.cn. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  24. Международное радио Китая Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, CRI.
  25. Breve Historia del Departamento de Español Archived 2015-10-05 at the Wayback Machine, CRI.
  26. "CRI Launches First Overseas FM Radio Station". www.china.org.cn. Archived from the original on 14 April 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  27. "China Radio's Tamil station to launch FM channel in India". ndtv.com. Archived from the original on 31 December 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  28. Krishnan, Ananth (30 July 2012). "At 49, China's Tamil radio station plans an expansion". Archived from the original on 15 December 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2018 – via www.thehindu.com.
  29. 关于对国广东方网络（北京）有限公司追加投资暨关联交易事项的公告 [Announcement on capital increase in Global Broadcasting – Oriental Network (Beijing) Co,. Ltd. and related party transaction] (PDF) (in Chinese). Huawen Media Investment Corporation. 25 April 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  30. Qing, Koh Gui; Wardell, Jane (2015-11-02). "Chinese radio broadcaster taps front men in Finland and Australia". Reuters. Retrieved 2020-10-12.

Sources
  • Bishop, Robert L., "Qi Lai! Mobilizing One Billion Chinese: The Chinese Communication System", Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1989. ISBN 0-8138-0296-2
  • Chang, Won Ho, "Mass Media in China: The History and the Future", Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1989.
  • Hamm, Charles, "Music and Radio in the PRC," Asian Music, Spring/Summer 1991, vXXII, n2, p. 28-29.
  • Howkins, John, "Mass Communication in China", New York, NY: Annenberg/ Longman Communication Books, 1982.

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