China International Communications Group
China International Communications Group (CICG) is an organization affiliated with the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), specializing in international communication that serves the Party and the state. It is China’s largest foreign-language publishing group and global media corporation. Its predecessor was the Bureau of International Press of the General Administration of Press of the Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China, founded in October 1949 under the cordial care and direct leadership of Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Chen Yi and other proletarian revolutionaries of the older generation.
CICG has 21 affiliated organizations, with 26 overseas offices in 14 countries and regions including the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany, France, Russia, Egypt, South Africa, Mexico, Peru, Japan, Thailand and Hong Kong. It also supervises two national social organizations – the Translators Association of China and the Ĉina Esperanto-Ligo. Today, CICG has grown into an international media group covering six business segments: high-level international communication, publishing and distribution, international news communication, cultural exchange, research and consulting, and industry service. It annually publishes some 3,000 book titles in 40-plus languages and 36 periodicals in 14 languages, which are distributed in more than 180 countries and regions. Its websites and social media channels enjoy a global reach.
On September 4, 2019, in a congratulatory letter of the 70th anniversary of CICG, President Xi Jinping required CICG to develop itself into a world-class, comprehensive international communication institution.
Xufang International Media
Xufang International Media, founded in 2011 as a subsidiary directly under China International Communications Group (CICG), is committed to the planning, production, and international communication of multi-language, mobile-friendly, and social media-oriented new-media visual content. It also provides international communication solutions for local Chinese governments and businesses. Its in-house production team is made up of outstanding professionals in video project planning, journalism, foreign languages, video production, and project operation selected from around CICG. Aiming to promote “new media and new international communication,” Xufang has built two digital media brands: China Matters and My China Story, which helped its social media accounts attract about 9 million overseas followers and 2 million domestic followers. Xufang won the China Journalism Award in 2018, 2019, and 2020 for its excellent original short videos and mini-documentaries.
In addition to its strength in new media production and international communication, Xufang International Media has established stable partnerships with 106 national news agencies, 52 major newspapers and more than 30 TV stations around the world, forming an international media matrix that has gained a high share of various platforms and brought content to the global audience in an efficient manner. The international communication events organized by Xufang for local Chinese governments and enterprises seeking to go global have played a crucial role in facilitating people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and the rest of the world.