China boosts global TV ties at Riviera show

China's mighty television industry came out in force at this week's MIPTV entertainment trade show on the French Riviera as the country boosts its links with Western broadcasters. Sending its largest ever delegation to the show, which ran Sunday to Wednesday, China indicated its willingness to increase television tie-ups around the world by inking co-production deals with big-hitting broadcasters. The 200-strong delegation lent a distinct Asian flavour to the event in Cannes, with the martial arts school of Henan Province staging a display of high kicks and moves at the weekend. BBC Worldwide announced at the show that it had signed its first co-production deals with CCTV-9, the documentary arm of China's state broadcaster CCTV, for two new science series from the British broadcaster. The channel will air the series "Wonders of Life", which examines the story of life through physics, at the end of this year, and "Generation Earth," a study of the most ambitious engineering projects in history, in Spring 2013. France Televisions also signed a memorandum of understanding Tuesday, which opens the door for co-productions with CCTV-9 as well as other forms of cooperation, the French public broadcaster's chairman Remy Pflimlin said. "With the world's public audiovisual landscapes changing faster and faster, it is more important than ever that we work together on common strategies to maintain first-rate public services," France Televisions said in a statement. The China Central TV (CCTV) documentary channel has a peak daily audience of 94 million people at home, 200 percent growth in viewer numbers and 25 million subscribers to its international service. Luo Ming, editor-in-chief and vice-president at CCTV, who headed up the Chinese delegation, said his aim was to reach 200 hours of original factual output a year. "And this can only be achieved by working with the best local and international partners," he was quoted as saying in a special MIPTV publication on China. At a panel discussion on Monday entitled "CCTV-9: Meet The Decision Makers," Ming told participants the broadcaster wanted to "deepen this friendship with old partners and create opportunities for new friends." Speaking last week at the two-day MIPTV documentary event preceding the main show, CCTV-9's managing director Liu Wen said the channel aimed to be "a bridge between China and the rest of the world." "We believe documentary is the best way to introduce Chinese culture to the world," Wen said.