Beijing will be the centre of the world¡¯s digital broadcasting industry from March 23rd to March 25th, when the China Content Broadcasting Network (CCBN) holds its 18th annual Conference at the China International Exhibition Centre.

The world¡¯s largest exhibition of DTV and broadband network industries, CCBN is China¡¯s only international exhibition of broadcast, cable and satellite technology and equipment. Since its hugely successful first show in 1993, CCBN has already become one of the largest exhibitions in Asia.

CCBN attracts more than 85,000 professional visitors and 1,000 companies and organizations from over 30 countries from around the world. With 15 exhibition halls totalling 69,000 square meters, CCBN is where '.12 billion USD of business deals are made every year.

Decision-makers in the broadcasting world use CCBN as a key opportunity to make equipment purchases and gain access to the latest trends in digital broadcasting. CCBN is also a crucial window for China and Asia¡¯s administrative organizations to better understand and participate in the development of the digital broadcasting industry.

CCBN has become an annual platform for participants to share knowledge, introduce new products and services, unveil new policies and hold conferences on new developments in the broadcasting sector:

-The keynote speech is an important opportunity to learn and understand the latest policies from national and international broadcasting authorities
-The Annual National Awards for Technical Quality in TV & Radio Programming enjoy a strong reputation in the broadcasting sector
-Administrative bodies in the industry use CCBN as an opportunity to learn about and discuss the latest trends in digital broadcasting
-CCBN¡¯s Technology Seminars attract the participation of broadcasting enterprises from home and abroad
-CCBN¡¯s Forums focus on various topics of importance to digital broadcasting.

CCBN receives strong support from the Chinese government. According to the Cultural Development Outline in China¡¯s 11th Five-Year-Plan, CCBN has gained the status of one of the eight most important exhibitions in the cultural industry to win full state support. This means that CCBN has further consolidated its position as an important part of China¡¯s broadcasting development, as well as playing a key role in the nation¡¯s cultural products industry and related services.

China is developing into the most important global market for digital broadcasting. As the country with the largest radio and television audience in the world, not to mention a large and fast-growing internet market, China is witnessing a booming digital transformation.

Key Statistics on Chinese broadcasting

-2548 radio stations and television stations
-2416 channels of radio programs and 1279 channels of television programs
-66,000 transmission stations and relay stations with 100,000 kilometres of microwave lines
-Ownership of televisions and radios exceed 400 million and 500 million. TV Ownership rate for families reaches 98%
-The number of TV audiences reaches 1.167 billion
-Number of cable TV subscribers exceeds 126 million
-Digital TV subscribers in China accounted for just 0.13% of TV subscribers from 2004 to 2005. Compared with Great Britain, U.S.A. and the world's average level, China enjoys huge market potential

China has been busily upgrading its digital broadcasting infrastructure and is expected to roll out all-round digital broadcast services by 2010. Under the official timetable for digital broadcasting, China will phase out analog broadcasting service by 2015. According to current development trends, it¡¯s estimated that the transition from analog to digital broadcasting will create a market of several trillion US dollars.

It is also estimated that the annual global output of digital TV and supporting industries in 2010 will reach and00 billion USD. If only 15% of China¡¯s 360 million families purchased digital TV, the sales volume would reach over '.5 billion USD. In a global market worth approximately '00 billion USD, China could possibly account for a market share of '5 billion USD.

Important Statistics from CCBN 2009