The Beijing Municipal Radio and Television Bureau recently organised the China-Africa-Arab Audiovisual Night, an event as part of the Beijing TV drama and movie broadcasting season. Artists from Africa and West Asia dubbed episodes of numerous Chinese TV shows and films throughout the event into English, Portuguese, Swahili, and other languages.
The Beijing TV drama and movie broadcasting season has been conducted annually since 2014. This program has broadcast over 100 outstanding Chinese TV series and movies in more than 30 countries and regions, including the U.K., Finland, Greece, Brazil, Argentina, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Tanzania. Additionally, documentaries, feature movies, and cartoons have also been aired in foreign countries.
StarTimes Group, a Chinese multinational media company headquartered in Beijing, has provided broadcasting and television services in Africa for over a decade.
According to Guo Ziqi, vice president of StarTimes, over 100 exceptional Chinese TV series and movies have been dubbed into nearly ten languages, including English, French, Portuguese, Swahili and Hausa, for broadcast in Africa through the program.
During this year’s Beijing TV drama and movie broadcasting season, African audiences enjoyed Chinese TV series such as “The Story of Zheng Yang Gate,” “The Wind Blows From Longxi,” “Go Ahead,” “The Golden Eyes, “Good Bye, My Princess,” “Sword Snow Stride,” and “My Heroic Husband,” along with the documentary series “Chang’an Meets Rome,” and animation series “Beijing Opera Cats.”
Guo said, “In the past, we assumed that African viewers might struggle to understand Chinese costume dramas, so we primarily selected TV series with a modern setting. But we later found that costume dramas were well-received among them.”
She added that the range of TV series being broadcast in Africa is expanding, containing not just teen dramas and shows set in modern times but also military and espionage series, martial arts shows, and fantasy dramas.
While watching Chinese TV series, foreign audiences can gain insights into Chinese people’s lives, appreciate Chinese culture, and deepen their understanding of China.
