China is dramatically increasing its media presence in the world. China Central Television (CCTV) established regional media hubs in Africa as well as in the United States and is currently planning another regional center in Europe. Xinhua News Agency is opening new offices and launched its own 24-hour television news; while the English language paper China Daily is publishing regional editions in different parts of the world as well.

Co-authored by Simone Claar

While we were attending the 1st AADUN-AFRASO conference from 11th to 14th March 2014 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, we took the opportunity to explore the city on the fringe of the scheduled conference programme and noticed that a variety of South African products were available on the market. This included the usual selection of South African wines but also extended to such condiments as Mama Africa’s or Ina Paarman’s condiments stocked in the local supermarket. Yet, more surprisingly, we also discovered a couple of Nando’s restaurants in some of the most prominent spots of the city: one, for example, could be found in the Times Square Mall and another bordered on Chinatown.