China enlists European satellite for information campaign in Africa

Testing is under way with a Paris-based company to beam Chinese television programmes to the continent from Xinjiang antenna

Project team says China’s soft power growth in African countries has been supported by Western companies, despite their governments’ warnings

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African viewers have had access to Chinese satellite TV since 2015 but plans to broadcast via a Paris-based company’s service would extend its reach. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 7:00pm, 15 Dec 2022

China plans to buy the services of a European satellite to directly broadcast content from its state-owned television network to Africa, according to engineers involved in the project.

The intention is to send high-definition TV signals from a ground station in China’s western Xinjiang region to E7C, a US-made communications satellite owned by Paris-based company Eutelsat.

These will be relayed to tens of millions of users in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a paper published by Chinese journal Radio and Television Information on December 6.

Lead project engineer Liu Ming, from the National Radio and Television Administration, said the project is part of a strategic campaign launched by the Communist Party’s Central Committee “to strengthen international communication capacity and promote Chinese culture overseas”.

Liu and his colleagues said China’s rapid growth of influence, or soft power, in Africa has been supported by Western commercial satellite companies, despite the warning of their governments.

China has carried out at least three test runs with Eutelsat to verify the technical feasibility of the plan, they said. The French company has been approached for comment.

Xinjiang – home to more than 60 per cent of China’s deserts, including the Gobi – is not the best location for TV signal transmission, with its frequent strong winds rocking the giant radio antenna that needs to remain stable for long-distance communications.

China enlists European satellite for information campaign in Africa

Testing is under way with a Paris-based company to beam Chinese television programmes to the continent from Xinjiang antenna Project team says China’s soft power growth in African countries has been supported by Western companies, despite their governments’ warnings

Testing is under way with a Paris-based company to beam Chinese television programmes to the continent from Xinjiang antenna

Project team says China’s soft power growth in African countries has been supported by Western companies, despite their governments’ warnings