The Chinese government announced plans to aggressively expand its presence in the international media. The government plans to spend $6.6 billion to "improve China's image with foreign viewers," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Each of China's three state-run media giants Central China Television, Xinhua News Agency and the People's Daily, will receive $2.2 billion. Propaganda chief Liu Yunshan stated, "It has become an urgent strategic task for us to make our communication capability match our international status".

Xinhua will expand its overseas bureaus from 100 to 186, "giving it a presence in nearly every country in the world." In addition, Xinhua may also create a 24-hour broadcast television channel, similar to Al-Jazeera.

Central China Television will launch two new international news channels in Arabic and Russian and expand its team of international reporters and interpreters.

The Global Times, owned by the People's Daily will launch an English edition in May, making it the second national English newspaper.

Source: Media Network via EJC, The Hollywood Reporter