Xinhuanet was launched in 1997 as the
online news service of Xinhua News Agency. It releases important news
about China and the world around the clock without stop by relying on the
agency's worldwide information-gathering network.
Xinhuanet has three domain names:
xinhuanet.com, xinhua.org and news.cn. Its English version has a domain
name of its own: chinaview.cn.
Xinhuanet provides news
services in six languages -- Chinese, English, Spanish, French, Russian
and Arabic -- to netizens in more than 200 countries and regions,
garnering 800 million hits and 80 million page views per day.
Xinhuanet is the top news website
in China, and one of the most influential sites in the world. According to
Alexa, a U.S. website-ranking service, Xinhuanet at present ranks around
160th on its list of 108 million global websites. Its ranking places
Xinhuanet third among the world's news websites, narrowly trailing BBC and
CNN, but far ahead of Reuters, The Associated Press and AFP (Agence
France-Presse).
Xinhuanet has set as its task to
"publicize China and report the world." It does so by releasing 15,000
news stories a day, 12,000 of which are about China. Xinhuanet is an
important window to China; its politics, economy, society, science and
technology, education and culture.
Xinhuanet pursues
timely, accurate, credible and fair news coverage. Xinhuanet is most often
the first to report China's major breaking news events, laws and
regulations, appointments and removals of high-ranking officials.
Xinhuanet was the first website to inform the world of U.S. air strikes
that heralded the start of the Iraq War and other major international
issues.
Xinhuanet has
adopted an all-media approach in its release of news, including
text,photos,
graphics, audio, video,
short message, MMS, WAP, electronic magazine and RSS .
Xinhuanet is the primary provider
of major and authoritative news to the nation's websites. A large number
of its news stories are carried or reproduced by many news websites and
government portals in China and the world, as well as by search engines
such as Google and Baidu.
Xinhuanet stresses the interaction
function of the Internet. Its blog and BBS attract millions of netizens
who make comments on Chinese and world affairs, as well as put forth
advices about government policies.
Xinhuanet has been entrusted to
launch and maintain several of the nation's official websites, including
the government website (gov.cn), a public security website
(chinapeace.org.cn), a website for ethical progress and promotion
(godpp.gov.cn) and the All-China Journalists Association website
(zgjx.cn).
Xinhuanet has also
been entrusted to launch and maintain a number of official conference
websites of international organizations and of important international
events such as the APEC Forum, China-Russia Year, China-Africa Cooperation
Forum Beijing Summit, and China-Korea Exchange Year.
Xinhuanet deploys an Internet
broadcasting vehicle loaded with advanced communications technology to
carry out live telecasts of major domestic and international activities.
In 2002, Xinhuanet was approved to cover live the press conference of the
Sino-U.S. summit at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Members of
the White House press corps watched the live feed and filed stories based
on what they saw and heard.
"VIP Studio" is one of Xinhuanet's
most popular programs. High-ranking Chinese government officials, experts,
scholars and authorities from various fields appear in the studio almost
every day to engage in exclusive interviews or online interaction with
Xinhuanet netizens at home and overseas.
