Rupert Murdoch's News Corp will formally open its mainland office in Beijing today with a ceremony intended to mark a new stage in its expansion drive on the mainland.
Star TV chairman Gareth Chang Cheng-chung said News Corp wanted to develop more TV programming inside the mainland, from sports to costume drama series.
'Developments in the media industry in China, including rapid technological change, make us optimistic about the potential for our business here,' Mr Chang said.
Analysts said News Corp's official presence on the mainland showed Mr Murdoch's long lobbying efforts had started to pay off after a shaky start.
In 1993, he angered Beijing when he said the fast development of information technologies would threaten totalitarian regimes across the world.
In the following year, News Corp dropped BBC World Service Television from its Star TV programmes broadcast to the mainland in an apparent attempt to appease Beijing.
