China is launching an Arabic-language TV channel to show the Middle East and North Africa the "real" China.

中国正要开通阿拉伯语电视频道，向中东和北非国家展示一个“真实的”中国。

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CCTV broadcasts from its landmark new building in Beijing

China Central Television's station will broadcast news, entertainment and cultural programmes 24 hours a day.

It is part of the Chinese government's plan to promote its own viewpoints by encouraging state-controlled media organisations to go global.

Beijing, while saying that some foreign broadcasters misrepresent（误称） China, tightly restricts its own media.

'Distorted views'

"It is imperative³ for us to be a multi-language, multi-faceted（有小面的） and multi-perspective broadcaster," said Zhang Changming, vice-president of CCTV.

Speaking at a launch event, he added: "[We hope] the world can know China and China can know the rest of the world even better."

CCTV already has four international channels that broadcast in English, French and Spanish, as well as Chinese.

The new Arabic channel will be accessible for nearly 300 million people in 22 Arabic-speaking countries from 25 July.

The broadcaster declined to comment on how much the channel was costing and how many viewers it is hoping to attract.

It will have an initial staff of about 80 and is being fronted by Arabic-speaking Chinese presenters⁴.

Mr Zhang made it clear that the aim was to counter some of the "distorted" views about China that are put out by a number of foreign broadcasters.

"Our principle is to be real, to be objective, to be accurate and transparent⁵. CCTV will present the world with the real China," he said.

He did not mention that Chinese media outlets⁶（出口，出路） are routinely censored⁷（检查） by the government and face tight restrictions⁸ about what stories they can cover.

Expansion plans

CCTV also plans to launch a Russian-language channel in September and is not the only Chinese media organisation² to have expanded.

In April the Chinese-language Global Times newspaper launched an English edition with the aim of promoting Chinese people's views to foreigners.

China has long complained about what it says are biased⁹（有偏见的） and unfair reports about the country carried by foreign media outlets.

There was a government-backed campaign against the "prejudiced" foreign media last year following the unrest in Tibet, which led to death threats to some foreign correspondents based in China.

But China is not the only country broadcasting to the Middle East. Last year the UK's BBC launched its own publicly funded Arabic TV channel.