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Outlet profile

PRC Foreign Ministry / state media

Chinese Communist Party state

Owned byOwned and controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese central government. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) is a State Council body. Major state media fall under the CCP's Central Propaganda Department: China Media Group (which includes CGTN, CCTV, and China Radio International) was consolidated under direct CCP control in 2018. People's Daily Group owns the Global Times. Xinhua News Agency is a ministry-level institution of the State Council.
FundingFunded almost entirely by the Chinese government's state budget. China Media Group's 2024 departmental budget totaled approximately CNY 2.1 billion (roughly USD $289 million), the majority from public appropriations. Outlets also generate some commercial advertising revenue, but state subsidies are the dominant and foundational source of funding. The Chinese government's total investment in state media outpaces that of any other country.
On the administrationmixed

Background

China's state media apparatus has roots in the Communist Party's wartime propaganda operations. Xinhua News Agency was founded in 1931 as the Red China News Agency and renamed Xinhua in 1935 after the Long March; it has been the official state newswire ever since. China Central Television (CCTV) launched in 1958 and expanded internationally with an English-language channel (CCTV-9/CCTV International) in 2000, which was rebranded as China Global Television Network (CGTN) in 2017 to project a more independent-sounding global image. In March 2018, under President Xi Jinping, China Media Group was formed to consolidate CCTV, China National Radio, and China Radio International under unified, direct CCP Central Propaganda Department control — a move that formalized tighter party oversight. The CCP's Central Propaganda Department itself dates to 1924, modeled on Soviet structures, and has long directed ideological content and censorship across all Chinese media. In 2018–2020, the U.S. government pushed back against Chinese state media's U.S. operations: the Department of Justice ordered CGTN and Xinhua to register as foreign agents under FARA in 2018, and the State Department designated at least 11 Chinese state outlets as 'foreign missions' — a label typically applied to embassies — between 2020 and 2021. During Trump's second term, Chinese state media initially took a combative posture on trade, calling U.S. tariffs 'economic self-harm,' 'unilateralism,' and violations of WTO rules; however, coverage shifted toward a more cooperative register after the October 2025 Trump-Xi summit and Trump's May 2026 state visit to China, which state media presented as a diplomatic success and a foundation for 'strategic stability.'

Sources

  1. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China — Official Site
  2. Ownership and Control of Chinese Media — Safeguard Defenders
  3. China Media Group — Wikipedia
  4. China Global Television Network — Wikipedia
  5. Xinhua News Agency — Wikipedia
  6. Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party — Wikipedia
  7. How the PRC Seeks to Reshape the Global Information Environment — U.S. State Department
  8. U.S. Reclassifies 5 Chinese State Media Organizations as 'Foreign Missions' — CPJ
  9. Beijing's Global Megaphone — Freedom House
  10. Xinhua Commentary: China Remains Steadfast in Upholding Int'l Economic and Trade Order
  11. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson's Remarks on Trump's Visit to China — MFA
  12. CGTN: China, US Maintain Communication Over Trump's China Visit
  13. A 65-Language Megaphone: How CGTN Is Shaping Global Narratives — RSF
  14. China Media Group Budget — State Media Monitor

Profile compiled 2026-07-12; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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