BROADCASTING CHINA: Strategies and Trends in the Global Expansion of Chinese Television

This chapter provides an updated analysis of the internationalisation of China’s television industry, building on the authors’ previous contribution to this handbook in 2015. It explores the key developments, motivations and strategies behind China’s TV programme imports and exports, with a particular focus on the shifts that have occurred since the 1990s, especially in the twenty-first century. The chapter identifies four interconnected paths in the internationalisation of Chinese television: (1) importing media and cultural products from abroad; (2) co-producing television content with foreign media partners; (3) exporting Chinese television dramas to international markets; and (4) establishing a global television network to broadcast Chinese content directly across multiple platforms. The last of these developments reflects China’s increasingly aggressive strategy to expand its media presence and disseminate its informational and cultural products worldwide.