Why Chinese media is covering local Indian news more closely

Why are China's news media looking beyond New Delhi to seek out stories of Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat? For long, Beijing's relationship with New Delhi was all that interested China. But now, with Chinese provinces courting Indian states for business, the big story is not just border disputes and Dalai Lama.   

"Ten years back, not many people in China had heard of Gujarat or Andhra Pradesh. But now there is a lot of interest in India's state governments," said Tang Lu, chief correspondent at the Mumbai bureau of the Chinese news agency Xinhua.

Despite being government-controlled, China has one of Asia's most diverse media sectors with different cities having their own large commercially-run media networks.

Traditionally, the messages of New Delhi made for the bulk of India-centric news. But now, much of the spotlight has shifted to Indian states with the two countries' states and provinces exploring new ties.    

Following Chinese president Xi Jinping's visit to India last year, Ahmedabad-Guangzhou, Delhi-Beijing, Bangalore-Chengdu and Kolkata-Kunming were paired as "sister cities" to boost exchanges in trade, tourism and other areas.

Chinese provincial governments are supposedly keen to invest in infrastructure development in Indian states.

Xinhua reported Andhra Pradesh's chief minister Chandrababu Naidu's meeting with Chinese vice-premier Wang Yang in Beijing this year. Naidu, the so-called chief architect of Hyderabad's IT hub (now in Telengana), was also interviewed by Xinhua.

Chennai-Chongqing, Hyderabad-Qingdao and Aurangabad-Dunhuang were added to the list of "sister cities" this year.

"New Delhi and the Indian state capitals have in fact been aware of the importance of the subnational approach towards China for some time now," wrote Jabin T Jacob, assistant director and fellow, at the New Delhi-based Institute of Chinese Studies, in a working paper that talks about the role of the provinces in the Chinese growth story.  

Until recently, Chinese media showed little interest in Indian states or local news even though they widely reported domestic issues of other countries.Over the last decade, China's big media - the television network CCTV, Xinhua and others - expanded far beyond national borders to markets in the United States, European, African and Arabic speaking countries. In many overseas markets, for instance in Spanish and French speaking regions, media like Xinhua readily covered local issues.

But India was not politically significant to Beijing's media outreach project.

Chinese media explored foreign markets mainly to promote a positive image of China on behalf of the government or step up its "soft power" (a new age cliché). The image of China suffered especially in places like the United States, where it was perceived as a threat for its economic might.  

In 2009, the Chinese government invested 8.7 billion USD approximately to support the media's global expedition. Xinhua currently caters news to more than 130 countries in multiple languages.

But after a decade of indifference Chinese media might be gauging the Indian market.   

China Daily's weekly tabloid, China Daily Asia Weekly, is currently distributed across Mumbai and New Delhi along with other cities like Singapore, Bangkok and Seoul.

In a 2013-media kit, China Daily Asia Weekly claimed that it distributed 40,000 copies in India since its debut in 2010.

In 2012, the Hong Kong-based bureau of Xinhua launched the website Asia Pacific Daily that also eyes Indian local news. China Radio International currently has broadcasts in Hindi and Tamil.

"At Xinhua, we cover Indian domestic news even if that does not interest the Chinese audience. Because we are an international news agency," said Tang Lu.  

For instance, a few months back China Daily, Global Times and Xinhua featured the news of the police gunning down alleged sandalwood smugglers in Andhra Pradesh.

China currently has more than a dozen foreign correspondents based in New Delhi and Mumbai. Xinhua and CCTV also work with an expansive network of Indian journalists. The growing interest in Indian states is likely to boost the coverage of local news.

Narendra Modi, while he was still the chief minister of Gujarat, addressed select Chinese journalists in India at the time of his visit to China in 2011. Gujarat and Guangdong have been made "sister provinces".

The disputed borders of Arunachal Pradesh may no longer be the only big story in China with Indian states grabbing fresh attention. But would that mean better relations with Beijing? The question remains.