Radio in China

There are over 3,000 radio stations in the People's Republic of China. China National Radio, the nation's official radio station, has eight channels, and broadcasts for a total of over 200 hours per day via satellite. Every province, autonomous region and municipality has local broadcasting stations. China Radio International (CRI), the only national overseas broadcasting station, is beamed to all parts of the world in multiple languages.

Radio technology first arrived in China in the winter of 1922-1923. With radios expensive and reception weak, the early popularity of radio developed primarily among wealthy Chinese and foreigners in the major port cities like Shanghai. Radio's popularity grew during the Nanjing decade as prices dropped and broadcast quality improved. Cultural practices of radio listening were communal, with shops placing speakers facing the street and families pooling funds to buy radios for places like temples and schools.

In the People's Republic of China, mass listening campaigns of the 1950s sought to bring political news and other radio programming throughout China. The PRC established a network of "radio receptionists" in schools, army units, and factories. Radio receptionists would organise group listening activities, transcribe news on blackboards, and re-broadcast news using homemade megaphones. In the later 1950s, wired broadcasting expanded substantially in China. Wireless radio became widespread over the course of the 1960s and 1970s.