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Xinhua News Agency

Chinese state-owned news agency

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  • 4 chapters

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In November 1931, the Red China News Agency was established by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the Soviet Zone of Ruijin. At the end of the Long March in November 1935, it was renamed to Xinhua. The agency established its first overseas branches during World War II, beginning to broadcast to foreign countries in English in 1944. After Mao Zedong's 1949 proclamation of the People's Republic of China, Xinhua became the official state news agency and subsumed the assets of the Republican era's Central News Agency.

Xinhua is both a publisher and a news agency; it publishes in multiple languages and serves as a channel for distributing information related to the Chinese government and the ruling CCP. Its headquarters in Beijing are located close to the central government's headquarters at Zhongnanhai, and its head, Fu Hua, is a member of the CCP Central Committee. Xinhua tailors its pro-Chinese government message to the nuances of each international audience. The organization has faced criticism for spreading propaganda and disinformation as well as criticizing people, groups, or movements critical of the Chinese government and its policies.

History

The predecessor to Xinhua was the Red China News Agency (紅色中華通訊社; Hóngsè Zhōnghuá Tōngxùnshè), founded in November 1931 in Communist-controlled Ruijin, Jiangxi Province. It mostly republished news from its rival Central News Agency (CNA) for party and army officials. It was renamed the New China News Agency in November 1935 at the end of the Long March, in which the Chinese Red Army retreated from Jiangxi to Shaanxi. By the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, Xinhua's Reference News translated CNA news from the Kuomintang, and also international news from agencies like TASS and Havas. Xinhua first started using letterpress printing in 1940.

During the Pacific War, the agency developed overseas broadcasting capabilities and established its first overseas branches. It began broadcasting to foreign countries in English in 1944. In 1949, Xinhua followed a subscription model instead of its previous limited distribution model. In the direct aftermath of the Chinese Civil War, the agency represented the People's Republic of China in countries and territories with which it had no diplomatic representation, such as British Hong Kong. In 1956, Xinhua began reporting on anti-Marxist and other opinions critical of the CCP. In 1957, Xinhua switched from a journal format to a newspaper format.

The agency was described by media scholars as the "eyes and tongue" of the CCP, observing what is important for the masses and passing on the information. A former Xinhua director, Zheng Tao, noted that the agency was a bridge between the CCP, the government, and the people, communicating both the demands of the people and CCP policies.

In 2018, the United States Department of Justice directed Xinhua's U.S. branch to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. In 2020, the United States Department of State designated Xinhua and other state-owned media outlets as a foreign mission. Xinhua registered in the U.S. as a foreign agent in May 2021.

In June 2022, Fu Hua, a member of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and former CCP committee secretary of Beijing Daily, was appointed president of Xinhua. In September 2022, Fu stated, "Xinhua will never depart from the party line, not even for a minute, nor stray from the path laid down by General Secretary Xi Jinping".

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