China’s media industry consists of film, television, news media, sports, gaming, and music. The industry has strict regulations prohibiting foreign investors across almost all media sectors. Foreign film firms can, however, enter the Chinese media industry through co-productions. Even then, only two firms, China Film Group and Huaxia Film can directly import foreign films into China. The number of foreign films that can be bought or co-produced with foreign companies is under a quota of around 54 films, including the big productions by Hollywood. China does not seem to embrace free market principles in its media industry, given the direct media control by the state under strict communism principles that render the media industry a socialist venture.
The groups that possess material power control media’s ‘meaning-making’ and determine what ideologies circulate within society. According to Marx and Engels, the ruling class control the means of production, and the material and intellectual resources used by the rest of society. This is particularly the case in China, where those in powerful leadership positions determine media production and content consumed by the citizens. Socialism plays a significant part in influencing media content. According to Luo, the media channels such as CCTV television have to portray “the mainstream value of socialism” by balancing the expectations of the government, the ruling party, and the values of the Chinese people. Ming Hang and his co-authors established that Chinese media is also highly concentrated. The government regulates media content and broadcasting and strongly influences media ownership. State-owned enterprises like China Mobile and China Telecom control wireline and wireless telecommunication. The new media attracts private ownership. For example, Baidu and Sina.com are private entities. The media industry in China must advance a ‘true’ representation of The People’s Republic of China and its government to promote a positive image at any given opportunity.
The Chinese media industries are yet to gain their independence from censorship and the strong arm of the government. However, emerging trends point towards attempted democratization. According to McChesney, democracy exists when individuals express their political freedom and free speech. The Chinese citizens and the media companies are engaged in a never-ending battle of seeking freedom of expression and maintaining the censorship rules. The media users try to dodge the strict censorship rules by using synonyms and puns to overcome the expression of free speech and political opinions. Social media has become a leeway through which citizens can overcome the draconian regulations on media and communication.
The recent examples show an attempt by the Chinese citizens to fight to form their democratic space. For example, the #MeToo hashtag was banned in China in 2018 when the world was standing against sexual violence. The social media in China censored the campaign but internet users had a way to support the campaign by evading the censorship rules. People used Weibo to transmit messages that the social media companies like Weibo could not be held liable under censorship rules. The internet users adopted rice and bunny characters to craft a clever “mí” “tù” to participate in the political debate and express their freedom of speech. Recently, Weibo also enabled Chinese internet users to send the message, “Wake up, sleeping people of the Netherlands!” The campaign was directed at Henan, where the government had committed irregularities by freezing bank deposits.
Although still far-fetched, the democratic space in China could develop with more media companies like Weibo creating space for people to use satire and irony to express their views.