Established as a publication in 1993, its English version was launched in 2009. The editor-in-chief ofGlobal Times wasHu Xijin until December 2021, who has been described as an early adopter of the "wolf warrior" communication strategy of loudly denouncing perceived criticism of theChinese government and its policies.[3] The newspaper has been the source of various incidents, including fabrications, conspiracy theories, anddisinformation.[note 1] It is part of a broader set of Chinesestate media outlets that constitute the Chinese government'spropaganda apparatus.[11][12]
Established as a Chinese-language weekly publication in 1993, an English-language version was launched on 20 April 2009 as part of a Chinese government campaign to compete with overseas media.[13][14][15]
In 2009,Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of both Chinese and English versions at the time, stated that he expected it to make a loss of 20 millionyuan in its first year as an English-language publication.[16] In 2016, Hu said theGlobal Times was profitable but faced difficulties that would be familiar to other newspaper editors.[17]
TheGlobal Times launched itsSina Weibo account in 2010.[18]: 303
TheGlobal Times launched its US edition in 2013.[15] In 2016, it was reported that the English-language edition then had approximately 20 "foreign experts" who were involved with assigning stories and copyediting, "as long as the coverage [wa]s not about politics".[19]
In April 2017, theGlobal Times signed a personnel exchange deal withSputnik, a Russian state media outlet.[20]
In 2019, theGlobal Times won a three-year contract with theMinistry of Foreign Affairs to monitor overseas social media and provide regular briefings and "comprehensive response plans."[21]
In 2020, theGlobal Times had total revenue of 176 million RMB and net profit of 24.5 million RMB.[18]: 304
In December 2021, Hu Xijin announced that he would be stepping down as editor-in-chief.[3][22]
As of at least 2024, theGlobal Times has a daily circulation of over 2 million copies.[18]: 303 It has consistently been regarded as one of China's top media brands.[18]: 303 It employs approximately 500 journalists in more than 150 countries.[18]: 303
TheGlobal Times has several sub-brands, including the Chinese version and English version of theGlobal Times, Global Times Online, the Global Public Opinion Research Center, Life Times, and Satire and Humor. TheGlobal Times is owned by thePeople's Daily Press, which also publishesPeople's Daily.[23] The Global Times Online is run by thePeople's Daily Online; ownership of the newspaper is split 60–40, respectively, between the People's Daily Online and the Global Times Press.[24]Global Times has a public opinion research subsidiary, the Global Times Research Center.[25]: 124
The Chinese-language version has been known to have a pro-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) slant, attracting a nationalistic readership since its inception in 1993.[16][26][27] It has also been described asChinese nationalist,[28]conservative[29][30] andultranationalist.[31] Launched in 2009, the English-language version initially took a notably less nationalistic stance than its Chinese-language counterpart, featuring interviews with Chinese dissidents, activists, and LGBT-friendly content. It later aligned more closely with the Chinese version.[32] The publication is sometimes called "China'sFox News" for itspropaganda and themonetization of nationalism.[33][26][34][35]
Sources both inmainland China and abroad have said that theGlobal Times is not generally representative of the Chinese government's political positions, while thePeople's Daily is considered more representative.[36][37][38] Others have stated that theGlobal Times' editorial stance has been viewed as channeling the views of the hardline faction of top leadership.[39] Some scholars have noted thatGlobal Times' more nationalistic stance permits other official state-run media to appear more moderate in tone.[40] According to its former editor Hu Xijin, theGlobal Times publishes what CCP officials think privately but do not say publicly.[41] According toAsia Society, theGlobal Times is "not considered an authoritative source of insight into the views of the central leadership".[23]
Hu Xijin has been described as an early adopter of the "wolf warrior" communication strategy of aggressively hitting back at criticism of the Chinese government.[3] His departure in December 2021, reportedly due to Beijing "strengthening the paper's political guidance", was (according toThe Diplomat) connected to efforts of toning down overly confrontational rhetoric, following a deterioration of China's international reputation andCCP general secretaryXi Jinping calling for improvements in the country's international communication at a May 2021CCP Political Bureau session.[3]
JournalistJoshua Kurlantzick wrote in 2022 that theGlobal Times "has taken approaches like the provocative, argumentative, and conspiracy-minded Russian outlets, mixing nationalism with efforts to mock the United States and other countries". He added, "Outside China,Global Times has used its uber-hawkish editorials and its top editor's skill at sparking controversies to make it relevant on social media internationally, in part because its content elicits responses from foreign officials and opinion leaders."[20]
In the early stages of theU.S.-China trade war, theGlobal Times' coverage of the disagreements between the two countries focused narrowly on trade issues.[18]: 303 Following the December 2018arrest of Meng Wanzhou in Canada,Global Times increasingly discussed the trade war as part of a possibly developingnew Cold War between the U.S. and China.[18]: 303
Richard Burger, a former editor atGlobal Times, alleges that in the wake of the 2011 arrest ofAi Weiwei, the Chinese staff of theGlobal Times were ordered by the Chinese Communist Party to conduct an "astroturfing" campaign against "maverick" Ai Weiwei.[53]
In October 2015,Roderick MacFarquhar, a China expert atHarvard University, spoke at a conference onMarxism in Beijing. He said that Chinese leader Xi Jinping's talk of the so-calledChinese Dream was "not the intellectually coherent, robust and wide-ranging philosophy needed to stand up to Western ideas." TheGlobal Times reported his speech as saying that the "Chinese Dream" would "make great contributions and exert a positive impact on human development." MacFarquhar said that the paraphrasing was a "total fabrication". The line was later removed by the newspaper from its story.[4]
In 2016, theGlobal Times referred to Australia as a "paper cat" in relation to theSouth China Sea, and a former "offshore prison" in relation to an Olympic championMack Horton calling out rivalSun Yang as a drug cheat (in reference to the country's former status as a Britishpenal colony).[54][55]
In May 2016, theGlobal Times ran a boycott campaign denigrating Hong Kongpro-democracy singerDenise Ho for allegedly advocating independence for Hong Kong and Tibet.[56][57] On 5 June,Lancôme cancelled a promotional concert by theCantopop star that was scheduled to be held on 19 June inSheung Wan.[57] Lancôme also added, in aFacebook post, that Ho was not a spokesperson for the brand.[58] The Tibet allegation appeared to have stemmed from Ho's May 2016 meeting with theDalai Lama.[57] The cancellation drew a heavy backlash in Hong Kong.[57][56] Some Lancôme shops in Hong Kong were shut down during the protests.[59]Listerine, another brand that Ho represents, retained the singer despite the fact that theGlobal Times also criticized that company hiring Ho as its public face in Hong Kong.[57]
In August 2019,Global Times editor Hu Xijin accused the United States of instigating theHong Kong pro-democracy protests.[60] On 13 August, protestors tied up and beatGlobal Times journalistFu Guohao while Fu was attempting to conduct interviews at the Hong Kong Airport.[61]: 10–12 A common mainland perspective is that protestors' attack on Fu marked a peak in the violence of the protests.[61]: 148
In 2018, the English edition of theGlobal Times acknowledged "counter-terrorism education" inXinjiang, even as Chinese spokespeople denied the existence of theXinjiang internment camps.The Economist noted: "Strikingly, rather than claiming that Western journalists misreport Xinjiang, the Global Times prefers totroll them, accusing foreign correspondents of hoping to 'profit' from negative China coverage, while asserting that the Western press is 'nowhere near as influential as it once was' and gleefully noting MrTrump's attacks on 'fake news'."[62]
In 2019, theGlobal Times was criticized for perceived bias in its portrayal ofUyghurs and of disinformation campaigns regarding the Xinjiang internment camps, which ledTwitter to ban it and other state-sponsored media outlets from ad purchases.[63][64][65] In 2021,ProPublica andThe New York Times reported thatGlobal Times was part of a coordinated state campaign to deny human rights abuses in Xinjiang.[66]
In May 2022, theGlobal Times said that a Canadian sniper who volunteered to fight in defense of Ukraine had "accused the Ukrainian army of inadequate weaponry, poor training, heavy losses, profiteering and desertion", citing a report by Russianstate media outletRT. Thefact-checking websitePolygraph.info found that RT and theGlobal Times had cherry-picked a report published by the Canadian newspaperLa Presse to make the claim.[73]
On 23 June 2022, theGlobal Times claimed that thousands of protesters marched in Brussels condemning NATO's aid for Ukraine during the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 20 June. However, the protest was aimed at inflation as well as high costs of living; no evidence was found that it was linked to NATO. TheBelgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the claim as disinformation.[74][75]
In May 2016, theGlobal Times was criticized domestically by theCyberspace Administration of China for "fabricating" news on the US, the South China Sea, North Korea, and Hong Kong, and "disturbing" the order of the cyberspace.[5]
In September 2018,The Economist wrote that it was "not fashionable in China to take theGlobal Times seriously", with a retired Chinese ambassador in 2016 comparing it to an angry toddler, along with Chinese intellectuals who deplored "its sabre-rattling towards Taiwan and Japan, and its deep reservoirs of grievance".[62]
In May 2025, following the2025 India–Pakistan conflict, the Twitter account ofGlobal Times, along with that ofXinhua News Agency, were blocked in India after both continuously published Pakistani claims of Indian military losses during the conflict.[78] Prior to its Twitter account being blocked in India, the Twitter account of theEmbassy of India, Beijing rejectedGlobal Times reports, stating "when media outlets share such information without verifying sources, it reflects a serious lapse in responsibility and journalistic ethics."[79] The block onGlobal Times' account was lifted later on the same day it was imposed.[80]
In September 2016, theGlobal Times published an article, titled "Singapore's Delusional Reference to theSouth China Sea Arbitration During theNon-Aligned Movement Summit". Stanley Loh Ka Leung, then Singapore's ambassador to China, criticized the article as fake news. Loh also asked theGlobal Times to publish in full, in both English and Chinese, a letter he wrote to the newspaper's then editor-in-chief, Hu Xijin containing evidence which debunked the Global Times’ assertions. Loh pointed out that Global Times did not attend the meeting and China was not a member of NAM. Hu refuted the ambassador by saying that theGlobal Times' reports were reliable and based on information from people who attended the meeting, without publishing the letter that Loh had requested to be published.Loh's letter was widely carried by reputable international newspapers like the Straits Times and South China Morning Post, forcing Global Times to eventually publish Loh's letter online. This was the first time that Global Times published a clarification by a foreign Ambassador.[7][8][9][10]
In February 2023, theUS-China Business Council (USCBC) released a statement refuting aGlobal Times article that claimed USCBC representatives had criticized theUS Ambassador to China,Nicholas Burns. The USCBC said that the claims in the report were false and expressed appreciation for Burns' work in Beijing.[83]
^abRan, Tongzhou; Liu, Zhangbo (2 January 2024).""The Russia-Ukraine War" or "The US-Russia War"? Thematic analysis of Global Times' coverage of the Russia-Ukraine War".Media Asia.51 (1).Routledge:3–32.doi:10.1080/01296612.2023.2246721.Under the auspices of People's Daily, the most important party-owned newspaper in China, Global Times is an international-oriented daily tabloid with a reputation for its pro-government and nationalist stance. In general, Global Times focuses on reporting and commenting on international events, usually viewed as more aggressive and nationalistic than other state media. Some scholars and observers focusing on China's news outlets suggest that Global Times is not so representative (Edney, 2014). However, it is still perceived as a channel for the nationalistic "eagle" view of China's political elites.
^Huang, C. (2016). "Conservative popular journalism, public diplomacy, and the search for an alternative Chinese modernity: Revisiting the global times". In Gao, Jia; Ingram, Catherine; Kee, Pookong (eds.).Global Media and Public Diplomacy in Sino-Western Relations.Routledge.doi:10.4324/9781315584904.ISBN978-1-4724-4398-4.
^abcdefgMao, Lin (2024). "From Trade War to New Cold War: Popular Nationalism and the Global Times on Weibo under Xi Jinping". In Fang, Qiang; Li, Xiaobing (eds.).China under Xi Jinping: A New Assessment.Leiden University Press.ISBN9789087284411.
^Wo-Lap Lam, Willy (2015).Chinese Politics in the Era of Xi Jinping: Renaissance, Reform, Or Retrogression?.Taylor & Francis. p. 93.doi:10.4324/9781315719368.ISBN978-1-317-51577-7.... conservative Global Times contended that "China cannot emerge from its preordained inferiority if it merely imitates the Western discourse."
^abSong, Chenyang (2025).Nationalist and Popular Culture Practices on Social Media: A Digital Ethnography of Chinese Online Fandom Nationalists. Bielefeld: Transcript.ISBN978-3-8376-7926-7.
This list is incomplete. This list does not includeEnglish-language newspapers in Hong Kong, nor does it include Portuguese-language only newspapers in Macau. It does not include any newspapers in the current/post-Chinese Communist Revolution Republic of China area (Taiwan), nor in Taiwan under Japanese rule.
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