Xinhua News Agency is the official state news agency of China. With a vast news output disseminated via its digital platforms and a portfolio of more than 20 newspapers and a dozen magazines, Xinhua is the largest news content provider in the world. Besides its news content produced in more than 10 languages, Xinhua also publishes over 30 print media, including newspapers and magazines. In 2010, the agency also launched CNC World, a 24-hour television channel.
Media assets
News agency: Xinhua
Publishing: Reference News (Cānkǎo Xiāoxī)
Television: CNC World
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
Xinhua is a ministry-level institution that is responsible to the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, which is the Chinese government. Along with People’s Daily, it is the highest ranking media outlet in China. The chair of Xinhua is appointed from among the high officials who are members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
Source of funding and budget
Xinhua is fully funded by the Chinese government, featuring as a state division in the overall state budget of the central administration, according to local journalists and experts.
Editorial independence
Xinhua has exclusivity in writing the most important news related to the Communist Party and to the Chinese government. The agency is treated by officials as a government unit in charge of producing official content according to a set of strict editorial rules.
Besides the news content produced for the public, the agency also runs a series of journals and newsletters that are reserved only to government and party officials. The reports are produced by Xinhua journalists who are based in almost all the countries in the world.
The magazine Reference News, for example, which is a publication that collects translated articles from all over the world is delivered to party officials by the reporters themselves.
The agency also produces a series of reports that are considered highly classified, which are only shared with a handful of high officials from the top echelons of the Chinese government.
There is no statute and no independent assessment mechanism to validate the editorial independence of Xinhua, which is the most important state propaganda of the Chinese government.
October 2023