"In the past few years China has rapidly become an important player in the media sector in many African countries in at least three ways. First, its economic success and the impressive growth of media outlets and users within China have quietly promoted an example of how the media can be deployed within the larger political and economic strategies of developing states, moving beyond the democratization paradigm promoted in the West. It has shown that heavy investments in media and information and communication technologies can go hand-in-hand with a tight control over them, posing a lesser challenge to local governments and to political stability. Second, the Chinese government, and its associated companies, have enhanced their direct involvement in the telecommunication and media markets in Africa. Chinese companies have started winning large bids on the continent, as exemplified by the 1.7 billion dollars project won by the Chinese telecom giant ZTE to overhaul Ethiopia's telecommunication system. At the same time, the Chinese government has provided significant support to state broadcasters in selected countries, such as Kenya and Zambia. Third, China's public diplomacy strategy has been stepped up through expanding the reach and content of its international broadcasters including China Central Television-CCTV and China Radio International-CRI. There has also been a heavy investment in the growth of the government news agency, Xinhua. Cultural diplomacy has been growing through the continued establishment of Confucius institutes. And programmes that offer scholarships for foreign students and journalists to study in China have been expanded." (Executive summary) "This report is based on the outcomes of the workshop organized by the Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy (PCMLP) at the University of Oxford and the Stanhope Centre for Communications Policy Research." (p.1)