Chinese print, television media to expand

The People’s Daily, the official daily newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, and CCTV both plan to expand their coverage as part of a US$6.6 billion government plan to upgrade and expand state media, AP reported. The People’s Daily will upgrade its 72 foreign and domestic bureaus. CCTV has announced plans to revamp its news broadcasts and add Arabic and Russian-language channels. Xinhua news service will double its overseas bureaus to 180 and add a 24-hour satellite news channel similar to other state-owned media channels like Russia Today and Qatar’s Al-Jazeera. The moves are seen as ways for Beijing to increase its influence over the international media and at the same time combat declining readership and viewership at home.