Effective immediately, China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) has authorized CETV to be broadcast from China's central satellite. This will allow CETV to expand its distribution, beyond its pervious base of cable homes in Southern China, to hotels and other authorized recipients across Chinese mainland via the Sinosat satellite.

In addition to receiving approval for central satellite platform distribution, CETV also recently extended its cable TV carriage to additional cable systems in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, doubling its penetration in these markets to more than two million homes.

"This is a very significant step for CETV on multiple levels. Not only does the central platform license give the channel a broader presence across Chinese mainland, it also elevates the relationship between AOL Time Warner and China to a high level," said Steve Marcopoto, president and managing director of Tuner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific Ltd.

"With this expanded distribution in place, we can concentrate more of our efforts on exploring further ways to improve CETV to better serve Chinese audience," he said.

CETV was the first foreign TV channel to be granted cable television landing rights in China in October 2001, through a reciprocal carriage agreement with China Central Television (CCTV) allowing CETV to be distributed in southern China.

(Xinhua News Agency April 2, 2003)