With the approval of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council, the new state-level group will enrich people's cultural life, promote reform and development, maintain social stability, said Liu Yunshan, executive deputy head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee.

　　Members of the group include media institutions like China Central Television, the Central People's Broadcasting Station and China Radio International.

　　The business scope of the group involves radio broadcasting, production and sales of TV programs, filming, transmission networks, websites, research and development, publishing of newspapers and magazines as well as advertising.

　　Describing the group as a "united media fleet," Xu Guangchun, director of China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, said this was a significant step China has made in news media reform.

　　The group will shoulder the task of structural reform, explore new business ways and optimize the use of its resources, he said.

　　With a fixed asset of 21.4 billion yuan (about 2.58 billion US dollars), this media group employs over 20,000 people and has a total annual income of 11 billion yuan (about 1.33 billion US dollars).

(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2001)