The founding yesterday of a new broadcasting corporation in Beijing is expected to turn up the competition heat in China's media sector over the next few months.

Ten institutions and five enterprises, including the Beijing People's Broadcasting Station, the Beijing Television Station and the Beijing Gehua Cultural Development Corporation, merged together yesterday to form the Beijing Broadcasting, Film and Television Group Corporation.

The merger will help the city's broadcasting sector face new challenges and survive tough competition in the media sector in the coming years, Ma Chaojun, a top official with the group, said yesterday at a founding ceremony.

Ma said the new corporation's market share and technological superiority will ensure the healthy development of broadcasting and film in the capital city.

The group's establishment will improve resource use efficiency, promote large-scale production, and make the broadcasting and film industry a new economic growth point for the city, he added.

The new corporation, founded on the basis of several institutions under the Beijing Broadcasting and Television Bureau, will make use of modern corporate models, according to Ma.

The corporation boasts assets of roughly 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion).

The Chinese media sector has seen a merger trend in recent years, including the coming together of Xinmin Evening News and the Wenhui Daily newspapers, and the melding of Hunan TV Station with Hunan Cable TV Station and the Hunan Economic TV Station.

(China Daily 05/29/2001)