History
Radio originally developed in China in the 1920s and 1930s. However, few households had radio receivers. A few cities had commercial stations. Most usage of radio was for political purpose, frequently on a local area level.
The Chinese Communist Party first used radio in Yanan in March 1940 with a transmitter brought back from Moscow. Xinhua New Chinese Radio (XNCR) went on the air from Yanan on December 30, 1940. XNCR transmitted to a larger geographical area after 1945, and its programs became more regular and formalised with broadcasts of news, official announcements, war bulletins, and art and literary programs.
The English Service started at Shahe Village in the Taihang Mountains in Hebei Province on September 11, 1947, when China was in a civil war. This was done with the hope of spreading its political and cultural perspective beyond China and to the world at large. XNCR, as it was called then, started in a cave-like studio in the mountains. Its mission was to provide information about the newly conquered areas.
The station moved from the Taihang Mountains to Peking, China's capital, when The People's Republic of China was formed in 1949. Its name was changed to Radio Peking on April 10, 1950. In the 1960s, the station was known for its propaganda programming supporting the Cultural Revolution under Mao Zedong. At the time, it had a relay station in Albania. Radio Peking, by that name, remained on the air until 1983, when the station's name was changed to Radio Beijing.
On January 1, 1993, the name of the station was again changed, this time to China Radio International in order to avoid any confusion with local Beijing radio broadcasting.
Read more about this topic: China Radio International
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