Available in 22 Arabic-speaking countries (Illustration)
צילום: רויטרס
China launches new Arabic TV channel
Beijing aims to have new Arabic-language television station 'show the Middle East and North Africa the real China'
Beijing is launching a new Arabic-language TV channel in order to "show the Middle East and North Africa the real China."
China Central Television's station will broadcast news, entertainment and cultural programs 24 hours a day.
According to a Saturday report by the BBC, the move is part of the Chinese government's plan to promote its own viewpoints by encouraging state-controlled media organizations to go global
Nevertheless, while saying that some foreign broadcasters misrepresent China, Beijing imposes strict restrictions on its own media.
"It is imperative for us to be a multi-language, multi-faceted and multi-perspective broadcaster… CCTV will present the world with the real China," Zhang Changming, vice-president of CCTV, told the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Speaking at a launch event, he added: "(We hope) the world can know China and China can know the rest of the world even better."
Zhang stressed that the aim was to counter some of the "distorted" views about China that are put out by a number of foreign broadcasters: "Our principle is to be real, to be objective, to be accurate and transparent. CCTV will present the world with the real China."
CCTV already has four international channels that broadcast in English, French and Spanish, as well as Chinese; and it plans to launch a Russian-language channel in September.
The new Arabic channel will be accessible for nearly 300 million people in 22 Arabic-speaking countries from 25 July.
