On May 4, 1992, Beijing Cable
Television formally went into operation. Beijing viewers were delighted
that they could at last watch clear images from dozens of channels
instead of only a few.
The Chinese government spares
no efforts to help border and remote areas get access to television
broadcasts. Border and remote cities, counties and towns now all
have television transmitting and relay facilities, and the number
of television viewers is growing steadily. Television microwave
links and satellite ground stations beam programs to 24 million
people of various national minorities.
China Central Television and more
than 3.000 other television stations nationwide as well as the satellite
and ground network systems constitute the largest television network
in the world. This underlines the tremendous strength of Chinese
television in both quantity and quality and greatly livens up the
culture of the nation with the largest population in the world.
Besides appraisal and giving awards,
the yearly Shanghai Television Festival also conducts academic television
exchanges and the import and export of television programs, and
holds international television set exhibitions and technology exchanges.
Shanghai has become the largest television program trading market
in Asia.
On April 1, 1996, China Central
Television leased three satellites and four transmitters from the
Pan-American Corporation, enabling it to transmit programs on its
international channel to most parts of the world. On July 1 and
October 1, 1996, the programs of CCTV’s opera and music channels
were transmitted to all parts of the world by satellites of the
Pan-American Corporation.
CCTV has established business
relations with more than 250 television organizations in over 130
countries and regions.
