China International Communications Group Explained

Status:Active
Founder:Soong Ching-ling
Country:China
Headquarters:Beijing
Distribution:Worldwide
Publications:Books, magazines and periodicals
Keypeople:Du Zhanyuan (Director)
China International
Communications Group
中国外文出版发行事业局
中国国际传播集团
Parent:Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party
Showflag:p
China International Publishing Group
S:中国国际出版集团
T:中國國際出版集團
P:Zhōngguó Guójì Chūbǎn Jítuán
Also Known As:China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration
S2:中国外文出版发行事业局
T2:中國外文出版發行事業局
P2:Zhōngguó Wàiwén Chūbǎn Fāxíng Shìyèjú

China International Communications Group (CICG) is a foreign-language publishing and communications organization headquartered in Beijing, China, and owned and operated by the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).[1] Established in October 1949 as the China International Publishing Group, it has developed into a global media corporation.[2]

Organization

CICG owns seven subordinate publishing houses, i.e. Foreign Languages Press, New World Press, Morning Glory Publishers, Sinolingua, China Pictorial Publishing House, Dolphin Books, and New Star Publishers.[3] The organization annually publishes over 3,000 titles of books and around 50 journals in more than 10 languages.[4] Notable periodicals include Beijing Review, China Today, China Pictorial, People’s China, and China Report.[5] Its subsidiary, the China International Book Trading Corporation, is in charge of the distribution.[6]

It also runs 20 overseas branches in countries and regions, including the United States, Britain, Germany, Japan, Belgium, Egypt, Mexico, and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,[5] with about 3,000 staff members, including around 100 foreign workers.[4]

In addition to publishing, CICG operates the China Internet Information Center.[7] It is also responsible for the implementation and management of the national translation test and appraisal for the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.[5]

Employees

Prominent people who have worked in the CICG include Nobel Literature Prize-winning novelist and playwright Gao Xingjian, Nobel Prize-nominated poet Bei Dao, actor and politician Ying Ruocheng (known for his role in the Oscar-winning The Last Emperor), translators Yang Xianyi and Ye Junjian, author Xiao Qian, non-fiction novel writer Xu Chi, cartoonist Ding Cong, former Chinese Foreign Minister Qiao Guanhua, and former UN Undersecretary General (1972–1979) Tang Mingzhao.

Several foreign employees have also gained notoriety, including the pseudonymous author "Alex Hill," whose account of working as a foreign editor for the organization was widely read in 2015.[8] In his account, the author writes of feckless bureaucracy, political correctness, and a general feeling of malaise among the many foreigners working in the compound.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 机构简介 _中国外文出版发行事业局 . 2023-03-06 . cicg.org.cn . 2023-03-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230306180005/http://www.cicg.org.cn/node_1006430.htm . live .
  2. Book: Hamilton, Clive . Hidden Hand: Exposing How the Chinese Communist Party is Reshaping the World . Hidden Hand (book) . Ohlberg . Mareike . 2020-09-03 . . 978-1-78607-784-4 . 245 . en . Clive Hamilton . Mareike Ohlberg.
  3. Book: Shambaugh, David . China Goes Global: The Partial Power . 2013-03-07 . OUP USA . 978-0-19-986014-2 . 236 . en . David Shambaugh . 2019-12-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210624021246/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZUhhLwg85YEC . 2021-06-24 . live.
  4. Web site: China International Publishing Group . The London Book Fair . 4 November 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120410195745/http://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/en/Exhibitors/53256/China-International-Publishing-Group . 10 April 2012 . dead .
  5. Web site: China International Publishing Group . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20130619192233/http://www.china.com.cn/book/zhuanti/flkfsztj/txt/2006-09/25/content_7190384.htm . 19 June 2013 . 4 November 2013 . China Internet Information Center.
  6. Web site: China International Book Trading Corporation . 4 November 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120209025631/http://www.cibtc.com.cn/gtweb/upload/gsjj/ygsjj.html . 9 February 2012 . dead .
  7. Web site: China International Publishing Group . China Book International . 4 November 2013 . https://archive.today/20131104181655/http://www.cbi.gov.cn:8080/wiseroot/pages/CBIen/presses2.page?cid=83300&page=4 . 4 November 2013 . dead .
  8. News: 2015-02-25 . My life as a communist party stooge . . live . July 30, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150730192209/http://www.vice.com/read/life-as-a-communist-stooge-working-in-chinas-ministry-of-truth-224 . 2015-07-30.