Written evidence submitted by BBC World
Service
SUMMARY
China has a highly developed, yet tightly controlled
media market. TV dominates the market. Amongst radio listeners,
FM is the frequency of choice. The internet is becoming a more
important medium.
The BBC's main office in China is in Beijing.
It provides news coverage for World Service radio, BBC World television,
the BBC's International Facing Online News Site and the domestic
channels.
World Service radio broadcasts in English, Mandarin
and Cantonese to China. The BBC also offers a regionally-focussed
website for the Asia-Pacific region, and a BBC Chinese website
available to all Chinese readers around the world. BBC World television
in English is available in selected more expensive hotels.
The impact of the World Service has been limited
in China by the regular jamming of BBC Chinese broadcasts on shortwave,
and the blocking of its website in both English and Chinese.
However, cooperation between the BBC and China
is improving. Some radio programmes are rebroadcast on local FM
stations. English language learning programmes are the most popular.
The BBC gained unprecedented access in the country during the
BBC's China Week in Spring 2005, with some BBC programmes broadcast
live from China.
A key issue which the BBC is trying to address
is how to overcome the "pattern" of obstacles caused
by a combination of political, commercial, and technological issues,
so as to make strongly branded English Language Teaching materials
available to the Chinese market. On the medium to longer term,
BBC World Service believes there is potential to increase audience
figures dramatically in this area, especially via the internet,
always providing that the political obstacles can be overcome.
After a successful project that aimed to increase
awareness of AIDS issues in China in 2003, the World Service Trust
is currently operating two further projects in the country—the
first aimed at building Chinese media coverage of disability issues,
and the second aims to encourage TV channels to reflect the needs
of excluded social groups, and to increase official tolerance
towards greater freedom of expression in the Chinese media.
MEDIA MARKET
OVERVIEW
China's highly developed media market has the
largest number of media users in the world and there is a wide
choice across all media platforms. The opening-up of the industry
has extended to distribution and advertising, but not to editorial
content. The government exercises a tight control over all media
and news content is subject to stringent censorship, although
freedom is said to be growing in areas such as sport, entertainment
and business news.
Beijing tries to limit access to foreign news
providers by restricting re-broadcasting and the use of satellite
receivers, by jamming shortwave radio broadcasts of the BBC as
well as Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, both of which are
American radio stations, and by blocking websites. Ordinary readers
have no access to foreign newspapers.
Fears that the media in Hong Kong would lose
their independence when the territory reverted to Chinese control
in 1997 have generally not been borne out. Hong Kong still has
editorially-dynamic media, but worries about interference and
self-censorship remain.
In China, the press report on corruption and
inefficiency among officials, but the media as a whole avoid criticism
of the Communist Party's monopoly on power. Each city has its
own newspaper, usually published by the local government, as well
as a local Communist Party daily.
RADIO
China National Radio, available on AM and FM,
is the state-run domestic radio station. FM is generally the frequency
of choice in urban China, and with the vast number of radio stations
now operating, there are commercial pressures. Although TV dominates
news consumption, radio is still a strong medium for news. Among
those that do listen to the radio, news is the most popular genre.
As mentioned above, restrictions are imposed on international
broadcasters, both through the jamming of shortwave broadcasts,
and in the re-broadcasting of news on local stations.
TELEVISION
With more than one billion viewers, television
is a popular source for news and the sector is competitive, especially
in urban areas. China is also becoming a major market for pay-TV;
it is forecast to have 128 million subscribers by 2010. State-run
Chinese Central TV, provincial and municipal stations offer a
total of around 2,100 channels.
The availability of non-domestic TV is limited.
Beijing says it will only allow relays of foreign broadcasts which
do not threaten "national security" or "political
stability". Of late, it has been reining in the activities
and investments of foreign media groups. The media regulator—the
State Administration for Radio, Film and Television—has
warned local stations that foreign-made TV programmes must be
approved before broadcast. It also monitors content closely, including
that of the BBC.
INTERNET
The internet scene in China is thriving, though
controlled. The number of internet users passed the 100 million
mark in 2005. It is the second largest internet market in the
world, behind the US.
Beijing routinely blocks access to sites run
by the banned spiritual movement Falun Gong, rights groups and
some foreign news organizations, such as the BBC. It has moved
to curb postings by a small but growing number of bloggers.
An international group of academics concluded
in 2005 that China has "the most extensive and effective
legal and technological systems for internet censorship and surveillance
in the world".
BBC PRESENCE IN
CHINA
The BBC's main office in China is the Beijing
Bureau which is staffed by two correspondents, a producer, an
office manager and a freelance cameraman. Another correspondent
is based in Shanghai. In addition, there is a business reporter
based in Shanghai and another in Chongqing. A correspondent is
also based in Hong Kong.
BBC OUTPUT AVAILABLE
IN CHINA
BBC output is available in English and Chinese
(Mandarin and Cantonese) across a number of media platforms:
Radio
World Service in English, with news and current
affairs and general interest programmes, is available 24 hours
a day across the whole of China. World Service in Mandarin, with
a similar range of news and current affairs and general interest
programmes, is available for six hours a day, also across all
of China. Cantonese programming is available for one hour a week
in Hong Kong and southern China.
Internet
The BBC's 24 x 7 web site is designed to be
accessed by anyone with a PC wherever they are in the world and
has regionally focussed information, including the Asia-Pacific
region. There is also a 24 x 7 BBC Chinese web site available
to all Chinese readers whether in China or in other parts of the
world. To appeal to all Chinese readers, the script is available
in simplified and traditional Chinese characters.
Both English and Chinese web sites carry a wealth
of information, including news and currents affairs, sport, business,
science and technology, music and entertainment.
There is also a separate BBC website for learners
of English which combines audio and text methods of learning.
Television
The BBC's international television service,
BBC World (in English only), is available in selected four star
and five-star hotels in China, and in communities and compounds
populated by foreigners.
The BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, also
sells BBC films, books, DVDs etc in China.
BBC WORLD SERVICE
PROGRAMMING ON
CHINA
World Service in English regularly carries news
coverage of China—more recently it has had two correspondents
reporting directly from Harbin, the north-eastern city in China
experiencing river pollution caused by a 50 mile chemicals spill.
The BBC's China Week in March 2005 was an opportunity
for the World Service to explore and present to listeners across
the world the complex image of contemporary China. Flagship news
programmes such as Newshour and The World Today were presented
from China itself (Beijing and Shanghai)—presenters Robin
Lustig and Carrie Gracie interviewed personalities and ordinary
people alike. Human interest programme Outlook also co-presented
and produced several editions with Radio Beijing.
World Service business programmes looked at
China's entrepreneurial spirit; science programmes examined technological
and science advances made by China over the last 25 years (particularly
on how China has managed to lead the way in fields like Gene Therapy);
the arts programmes The Ticket aimed to reflect the richness of
the contemporary arts scene in Shanghai; and football in China
was covered by World Football and Sportsworld in
another co-production with Radio Beijing.
The influence of China abroad was examined in
a five-part documentary China's World which ran across
the China week and looked at the mighty and profound influence
of China on the world economy.
Recent programming on China included a four-part
series in December 2005 entitled "Building Beijing".
This independent production followed the building boom and transformation
of Beijing in the lead-up to the 2008 Olympics, and explored how
this is affecting ordinary people's lives.
Coming up in February 2006, the English network
will feature China and its huge coal industry as part of its Energy
week.
DELIVERY METHODS
AND JAMMING
PROBLEMS
Radio
Both English and Mandarin are available via
short wave. Audibility for English is fairly clear although in
some cities, eg Beijing and Shanghai, the presence of tall buildings
can adversely affect the signal. Mandarin programmes are regularly
jammed, although not all frequencies are jammed all of the time.
BBC in Cantonese is broadcast on FM (ie local radio) on behalf
of the BBC by Radio Television Hong Kong.
The issue of jamming is something that the BBC,
and the FCO on behalf of the BBC, has taken up with the Chinese
authorities. The Chinese side has not admitted to deliberate jamming
but has suggested that congestion on the air waves might result
in accidental co-channel interference (where the output of one
radio broadcaster is heard on a frequency used by another radio
broadcaster). However, earlier this year, the BBC World Service
carried out an experiment whereby Mandarin programming was broadcast
on three new frequencies alternately in a random pattern. Within
24 hours, the jamming followed the random pattern so that whatever
frequency was used, it was jammed within a few minutes. Our conclusion
was that the jamming is deliberate.
Internet
The nature of the internet means it is accessible
from all over the world as long as you can use a PC. However,
in China the BBC's web site (whether in English or Chinese) is
blocked: if you type in a BBC address in China, a notice appears
saying that the page is not available. Occasionally the home page
of a BBC web site can be accessed from within China; however it
is not possible to access any of the information beyond that home
page.
Emails we receive from our audience in China
show that many do in fact access our web site; this is likely
to be via a proxy site, an easy process as long as you know how
to do (not a problem for the technically savvy).
The exception is the BBC learning English site
which is accessible from China with no problem. Although this
material is aimed at a global rather than a Chinese audience,
the BBC is building its bilingual content (in English and Chinese)
as this site is becoming increasingly popular in China. In this
way we hope to further develop and serve our Chinese audience.
More information on this is detailed below under the heading,
The BBC and English Language Teaching in China.
Television
BBC World was granted a licence to start broadcasting
in China in 2000. Distribution of its signal is controlled to
a great extent by the Chinese authorities, beamed as it is through
a state-owned satellite. This means that the vast majority of
people in China cannot view BBC World; it is, however, available
in approved housing for communities of expatriates and international
residents, and in 125,000 upmarket hotel rooms. Technically, BBC
World is also available unencrypted across Asia through the PAS
satellites, but it is illegal for most Chinese citizens to own
the dishes that would enable them to watch it.
The relationship between BBC World and the Chinese
government has always been cordial, but there have been publicly
recorded occasions in which the authorities have blacked out its
signals. In 2002, on the fifth anniversary of Hong Kong's return
to Chinese rule, the government objected to a news story about
a demonstration in Hong Kong against Beijing's crackdown on the
banned Falun Gong spiritual group. BBC World maintained its responsibility
to report the global news agenda with impartiality and integrity.
BBC World is only available in English and does
not have a specialised service for China.
COOPERATION BETWEEN
BBC AND CHINA
Despite some of the problems experienced in
delivering BBC output into China, there are many areas where cooperation
has been possible, delivering a wider audience for BBC output.
Many BBC radio programmes, in English and Chinese,
can be heard in China on local radio stations, by far the most
popular method of listening to the radio. One of the most popular
programmes is learning English and this type of programming, properly
credited to the BBC, is available on local radio broadcasters
in many of China's provinces and leading cities. Also popular
are programmes, in English and Chinese, on education (particularly
on studying in the UK), music, sport and entertainment. Radio
Beijing, Radio Guangdong and Radio Tianjin regularly feature World
Service English and Chinese programmes.
Such cooperation has been further strengthened
by a number of multi media co-productions, such as a joint radio
and web cast debate held by the BBC Chinese Service and Radio
Beijing, and a similar multi media debate held with Radio Yunnan
on AIDS, as mentioned below in the section of the World Service
Trust. World Service in English had its first co-production with
Radio Beijing in 2004 (Outlook and Sportsworld were produced from
the studios of this important city radio station).
Despite some of the problems in the BBC being
able to report on China, during the BBC's China Week, unprecedented
access was gained by many BBC reporters, as described earlier.
For programmes broadcast during this week the BBC had access to
many different areas, ordinary people and officials in China.
Flagship programmes, such as BBC1's Question Time, Radio
4's Any Questions, and World Service's World Today,
were broadcast live from China, a first for a non-Chinese broadcaster.
Outlook worked with Radio Beijing again on a co-production.
More recently, CCTV1, the most watched TV channel
in China, with an audience of over one billion, has requested
interviews with World Service programmes-makers involved in China
Week, for its 2005 year-end news show China Diary. The
programme highlights eight news stories of the year, and the BBC's
China Week was chosen as one of the most significant media stories.
For the internet too there have been areas of
cooperation, notably a business partnership with the web site
of one of China's largest cities, Tianjin. BBC learning English
material, fully credited to the BBC, is published on the site
and has proved popular with our audience. There is now a dedicated
team within World Service focussing on providing education material
specifically for a Chinese audience together with information
about studying in the UK. More details on the this are given below.
BBC IMPACT IN
CHINA
Radio
It has not always been possible for the BBC
to carry out audience research in China so data is limited and
restricted to three cities only. However, this indicates that
the BBC has the largest audience amongst international broadcasters,
with a penetration of about 1-2%. The data also shows that the
audience is predominately young (55% are under 30 years old) and
are increasingly loyal (53% say they will continue to listen and
36% would recommend listening to the BBC to a friend).
Internet
The internationally accepted standard of measurement
is page impressions (PIs) per month. The latest full month figures
available for the BBC site in China (November 2005) show that
total PIs from China were six million, of which about three million
came from our online partner in China, based in the city of Tianjin.
The Chinese partner publishes BBC Learning English material on
its own website, with full credit being given to the BBC. Visitors
to the BBC pages on this site are included in the overall monthly
PI figures for the BBC online audience in China. Monthly figures
from our Chinese partner are also available for December and show
that PIs to the BBC pages have risen to 4.5 million.
Television
In two cities (Beijing and Shanghai) the audience
penetration is under 1%.
THE BBC AND
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
TEACHING IN
CHINA
Official Chinese policy currently strongly promotes
the use of English, as part of the country's focus on export-led
economic growth and globalisation.
China's entry into the WTO as well as the 2008
Beijing Olympics and the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai are said
to be giving rise to an emerging "English economy".
Chinese companies see English language skills as critically important.
For many graduates being able to speak English or not makes the
difference between getting—or not getting—a good job.
The Beijing Olympic Games Organising Committee claims that the
number of Beijing residents who can speak a foreign language,
the most important of which is English, will increase from 3.12
million at the end of 2004 to 4.14 million at the end of 2005.
The latter figure represents 29% of the capital's population.
All Chinese University students must take the
College English Test (CET) at band 4 and some must also pass the
higher band 6. English is an obligatory subject in secondary education
and is being introduced at primary level. At the anecdotal level,
there are various signs of the "English craze" sweeping
the country. One, according to China Daily, is the decline
of the film dubbing industry: the latest fashion among young Chinese
is to watch Harry Potter and other films in English, without dubbing
(relying on dubbed soundtracks is seen as something pertaining
to the older generation). There have also been some complaints
that the focus on English is leading to a decline in Chinese writing
skills.
For the above reasons, BBC World Service has
been focusing on reaching Chinese English language learners as
one of the ways of building audiences in this important market.
Despite hostility to the BBC's news coverage,
there is a tradition of interest in general BBC programming, and
specifically in English language teaching. Follow Me, the
specially made BBC TV language teaching series, which was shown
across China (on CCTV) in the 1980s was highly popular (and continues
to be praised by members of the current leadership many of whom
were teenagers/in their early 20s when it was first shown).
BBC Learning English is seeking to increase
its radio and online audience in China, and has made progress
in the following ways:
Radio
FM-style BBC bilingual (Mandarin + English)
English Language Teaching (ELT) programmes were launched in 2004
and are now offered to radio stations in ten key cities—currently
on air in nine out of the ten. (Radio stations carrying BBC material
need local political approval, which can be a lengthy process.)
Internet
The entire BBC web site is blocked with one
exception: a separate BBC web site that carries teaching English
material. This site, bbclearningengllish.com, remains accessible,
although rather slow for technical reasons.
BBC ELT content is now placed by agreement on
a variety of partner sites, mainly Chinese municipal sites, which
are delivering significant and growing audiences. A new "tailored"
site specifically for Chinese ELT users has been developed (bbc.co.uk/china),
and a wider site focussed on introducing the UK is about to be
launched, including ELT as well as British culture, sport, education
and universities.
There is also a co-produced site with British
Council, Chinese Open University, and TCL (a private sector electronic
company) run in Beijing.
Television
The World Service is interested in potential
collaboration agreements, (eg Beijing TV) subject to editorial
acceptability and affordability.
Other Media
The BBC is currently researching possibilities
of launching an "ELT-by-mobile phone" service in China—now
the world's largest mobile market.
The BBC has also negotiated a deal with Digidea,
a local publisher, to publish a CD-ROM with audio of From Our
Own Correspondent and other programmes, along with English
transcripts and Mandarin translations, as material for listening
and comprehension practice. The contract has provision for the
protection of BBC intellectual property.
BBC WORLD SERVICE
TRUST'S
DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
IN CHINA
The BBC World Service Trust is the international
development charity of the BBC. It works with people in developing
and transitional countries to improve the quality of their lives
through the innovative use of the media.
The Trust's work seeks to raise awareness among
mass and opinion-former audiences; affect behaviour change; influence
policy and transfer skills and knowledge. The Trust works to strengthen
free and independent media through its Media Development Group
and delivers educational programming and health campaigns through
its Development Communications Group.
DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
IN CHINA
The World Service Trust is current involved
in two important projects in China:
The first due to be launched in January 2006,
In Touch for China, is funded by Big Lottery Fund, and
will work with a local NGO, aiming at building capacity within
the Chinese broadcast media for covering disability issues. Disabled
people, especially blind people, are one of the most disadvantaged
groups in China and they are facing new difficulties and challenges
during this period of rapid social change and economic growth.
The Trust will establish an independent production
base in Beijing, staffed by visually impaired and sighted people.
It will train a minimum of 36 visually impaired people from across
China in journalism and radio production, and will also generate
a weekly radio programme, to be broadcast on local radio stations
throughout China, covering disability rights, health, life skills
and related subjects.
The project is inspired by BBC Radio 4's own
long-running series, In Touch and attempts to break down
employment barriers and stereotypes through the example of its
disabled trainee producers. It will extend this model within the
context of today's China by providing outreach, in the form of
a Mobile Advice Centre for disabled people.
The second project, entitled Tuning into
Human Rights—Improving the Coverage of Marginalised Groups
on Chinese TV also has a projected start date of 1 January
2006, dependent on co-funding. The European Commission (EIDHR)
has already approved 80% funding.
Working with the Sichuan TV Culture Centre (STCC),
the project aims to improve the capacity and commitment of television
documentary makers and TV stations in the 12 provinces of West
China to reflect and respond to the needs of specific disadvantaged
or excluded social groups.
Social exclusion often occurs against a backdrop
of rapid economic change, in which development agendas are monopolised
by urban-based schemes and East China's need for cheap labour.
The groups identified as most vulnerable to rapid change in West
China, and accordingly specifically targeted by this project,
include rural women and girls, who experience the highest levels
of infanticide, domestic violence, suicide and denial of basic
human rights, ethnic minorities, who often reside in the poor,
isolated regions, and people with disabilities, who experience
social exclusion.
The project also aims to extend the boundaries
of Chinese media coverage of human rights and democratisation
issues whilst working to increase official tolerance towards greater
freedom of expression in the Chinese media.
Project activities include: workshops in picture
editing and training of trainers; four Human Rights symposia in
regional centres of West China, bringing together journalists,
media leaders, government officials and NGO's; Human Rights Documentary
Workshops; Media Skills Courses for NGO staff; Online Learning
using the BBC's established iLearn system; training and support
to documentary makers during the production of 18 TV documentaries
reflecting human rights and democratisation issues in the region;
the distribution of these documentaries to provincial TV networks
in West China, setting a standard for responsible media production
in the country.
The Chinese Service also ran an ambitious multimedia
project looking at the Millennium Development Goals in December
2003, as part of World Service Trust project 2015 Where Will
We Be? This project aimed to raise Chinese public awareness
of the Goals, and to reflect on China's progress in achieving
the Goals.
To coincide with the BBC World Service AIDS
season in December 2003 the Chinese Service's produced a special
feature 19-part radio series looking at poverty, education, the
environment and AIDS. This included a 45-minute live debate focusing
on HIV/AIDS and its impact on the achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals in China. The debate was webcast live on bbcchinese.com
and sina.com.cn, China's number one portal. On 1 December, World
AIDS Day, the recorded programmes were broadcast on Radio Yunnan
to an estimated audience of four million.
There was also an hour-long music concert and
debate with Chinese and British pop stars. The issues discussed
were the relationship between poverty and HIV/AIDS and the challenges
of prostitution, high treatment costs, and discrimination and
isolation.
The concert event was broadcast on Yunnan Satellite
TV (YNTV) on World AIDS Day 2003. As a satellite broadcaster with
national coverage, YNTV enjoys an estimated audience of 380 million.
In addition, the concert was broadcast on CCTV-3, China Central
Television. CCTV attracts more than one billion viewers worldwide
and is the second most popular channel in China following CCTV-1.
KEY ISSUES
Jamming and delivery solutions
Currently, there is no potential to increase
World Service's shortwave audience as we expect the Mandarin signal
to remain blocked, and English on shortwave has limited appeal.
However, a short wave presence will remain as this is at present
the only way news programming can be accessed in China. But recent
audience research endorses increased focus on FM-led general interest
programming, as it shows that FM is the frequency of choice in
urban China, and only non-news programmes may be rebroadcast on
Chinese radio. Branding and scheduling (BBC programmes must be
on at good listening periods) are all important if the FM strategy
is to have a measurable impact.
Perceptions of the BBC in China
The BBC is seen as a tri-media organisation
in China, and news is the genre it is strongly associated with.
If the BBC is going to broaden its appeal with the addition of
FM-led ELT and general interest programmes to its existing news
output to access an even wider market, then it must widen perceptions
of what the BBC can and does offer.
Partnerships in China
There is anecdotal evidence that the co-productions
put together for the BBC's China Week, and in 2004, have made
a significant impact in China. The World Service will seek to
maintain and nurture relationships formed, and where possible,
continue to seek new partnerships.
The internet is a huge opportunity in China
and is an important medium for ELT China will soon become the
largest internet market in the world and the BBC needs to build
on its existing online service that provides the full range of
news and information and provide an online service that is accessible
as well as appealing to online consumers. The internet is a more
popular source of ELT than radio, and the World Service recognises
that a tailor made website focusing on ELT, education and British
culture has potential in the market.
Young professionals and Students are the key targets
World Service research shows that current BBC
listeners are mostly in this group. They are also interested in
the type of content the BBC intends to develop further via radio
and online—ELT, Education, Sport, Music etc, to add to its
existing range of multi media programming.
BBC World Service
December 2005
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