The Chinese Communist Party’s official newspaper, the People’s Daily, is expanding its coverage as part of a reported multibillion-dollar drive to expand China’s international media influence.
The staid daily that chronicles the activities of the party leadership plans to expand from 16 to 20 pages with more coverage of breaking and international news, it said in a notice on its Web site yesterday.
The newspaper’s 72 foreign and domestic bureaus will be upgraded, it said, without giving details.
The announcement comes just days after state broadcaster CCTV announced plans to revamp its news broadcasts for the first time in a decade to combat a sharp decline in viewership.
The moves are believed to be part of a 45 billion yuan (US$6.6 billion) government plan to fund a major expansion of CCTV, People’s Daily and Xinhua news agency, as reported earlier this year by Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post newspaper.
Officials have yet to confirm the plan’s details, but the Post said it calls for Xinhua to nearly double its overseas bureaus to 180, while adding a 24-hour satellite news channel.
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