British TV Channel Bought by Wenzhou Firm

July 14, 2009 Posted by China Briefing Reading Time: < 1 minute

Jul. 14 – A Chinese firm based in Wenzhou City has bought the British digital satellite tv channel, Propeller TV, for an undisclosed amount, according to Zhejiang Online.

The Xiking Group, led by Wenzhou businessman Ye Maoxi, said the channel will start airing programs that promote Chinese culture. The British channel works as a free-to-air broadcast and is managed by the Image Channel Company.

“There will be specific programs to introduce China and Wenzhou, with some to be broadcast in Chinese, ” Ye told China Daily. “It will be a venue for the Europeans to know more about China, and for overseas Chinese to get immediate information of their homeland.”

Ye is well-known as a mover in China’s printing industry while also heading the Wenzhou Chamber of Commerce branch in Beijing.

The channel had already been looking for investors since early this year when the government announced that it would discontinue funding because of the global financial crisis.

It is not the first time that a Chinese firm has bought an overseas tv station. In 2006, a businessman from Wenzhou, Wang Weisheng, also bought a TV station in United Arab Emirates.

Wenzhou is a wealthy city in Zhejiang Province famous for nurturing private enterprise. The city is a major producer of tea, wine, food, jute, time, alunite and paper.