Beijing Review, previously Peking Review, is China's only national news magazine in English, published by the state-run China International Publishing Group. In addition to the English print edition, Beijing Review also publishes online editions in Chinese, French, German and Japanese.[2]
Overview
Following China’s participation in the 1954 Geneva Conference, Premier Zhou Enlai, on his way back with the delegation, suggested establishing an English-language weekly, as the country’s growing international engagement made its main foreign publicity publication, then bi-weekly People’s China, inadequate and untimely.[3]
Wu Wentao, who had served as People’s Daily’s chief correspondent in Geneva during the conference, returned to China the following year and began preparations for such a weekly. In late 1957, as deputy head of the Foreign Languages Press, Wu formally submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to launch the English weekly. On 18 November 1957, Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Wentian convened discussions and subsequently submitted a report for the Premier’s approval. The proposal was endorsed by Foreign Minister Chen Yi on 20 November 1957 for Zhou’s consideration.