media Media diversification generates interest

The story on the decisions by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) to allow private capital into the media business keeps on generation interests by foreign media. As the Financial Times rightly points out this is merely a legitimization of a situation that did already exist for some years. Through backdoor constructions especially the Chinese new rich had already secured themselves parts of promising media companies.
While the optimism is understandable in such a potentially lucrative industry, warning are in place. By legitimizing an existing situation, not that much is actually changing, since private entrepreneurs are already active in the media industry.
Private investments and even listings in other industries over the past decade have shown that by keeping a solid majority in government hands, real changes might still be far away. There are many reasons to be careful: China seems to allow private investments in those sections and to such a level that government control is not really jeopardized.