By Peter Cai
A LEADING Chinese radio network is due to open a Melbourne office within days, as part of a push by China's state-owned media to lift its image abroad and compete with the likes of CNN and the BBC.
China Radio International, an official news outlet, will open the Melbourne office after recently establishing a bureau in Sydney.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao participates in a live broadcast during his visit to the China National Radio in Beijing.Credit: AP
Another official Chinese government news agency, Xinhua, recently moved into an office on Pitt Street, Sydney, with more than a dozen journalists, including some hired locally.
Christian Edwards, a senior correspondent for Xinhua, told The Age that ''the object is not to hit the universe on the head with an alternative world view - Xinhua is looking to commercialise itself and compete with the CNNs and the Fox News''.
In recent years, Xinhua has expanded its presence internationally to more than 160 bureaus, including offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Perth.
Mr Edwards said that while Xinhua was a long way from rivalling international news agencies such as CNN and Fox, it was gaining traction in the non-Western market. ''It's a long game and will take time. Xinhua's model has traction in south-east Asia and outside the West.''
Xinhua has also reached out to the main local media organisations in Australia such as the ABC and AAP. It has been reported that the ABC is interested in signing some content-swap agreements with Xinhua.
The ABC's managing director, Mark Scott, has said ''the two parties should actively get involved in mutually beneficial co-operation in future''.
The international expansion has been supported by an official budget of $6.7 billion, according to the South China Morning Post.
Top leaders in Beijing have supported the ''Go Abroad'' strategy for the Chinese media. President Hu Jintao reportedly expressed his displeasure at the weakness of the Chinese position in the global media landscape and urged media outlets to expand the country's ''national cultural soft power''.