ABSTRACT
Introduction This chapter studies the four-phase development of China’s national television policies and industrial structure between 1996 and 2003, and spells out the initial implications observed in the process of the changes in relation to domestic political and economic interest groups, and external factors including the General Agreement on Trade Services negotiations, China’s World Trade Organization accession and the international ideological conflicts. The restructuring carried out since 1996 is particularly crucial for Chinese television as, not only does it involve an institutional, structural and regulatory transformation, but it also signifies an ideological shift from a hardline position towards the global media to a more flexible attitude from the Chinese state. During this period, the Chinese television sector was transformed from a planned economic system with sole stateownership, to a quasi-market system co-existing with public service and commercial broadcasters. Significant industrial reforms included the recentralization of the television network, the concentration of media resources, and digitalization. A “reaching out” project was launched to assist the international expansion of China’s television channels in order to increase the political influences of the Chinese state in international society through the power of the media. The initial implications of the restructuring upon China’s television industry are the prominence of the economic function of the broadcasters and the increase in crossregional competition. The development of China’s national television policies and industry structure are conditioned by, as well as reflecting, the transformation of the country’s internal and external socio-economic-political order.
