StarTimes' Kenyan team

Pang Xinxing

Cherishing a dream of enabling every African family "to afford digital TV, watch digital TV and enjoy digital TV," Pang Xinxing, head of StarTimes, a Beijing-based digital TV solutions provider, embarked on a mission in Africa in 2002.

The former electronics engineer's mission made headway in 2007 when he acquired the first license for digital TV operations in Rwanda. The next year, StarTimes' first terrestrial digital TV services began there. Today, Pang's company, founded in 1988, is the fastest-growing digital TV operator on the continent with nearly 7 million subscribers and services in 16 African countries.

But it wasn't an easy journey. Soon after the first success in Africa, the global financial crisis began and Western companies started to pull out their investments from Africa. Pang decided to go against the tide and initiate a massive expansion program. He invested all the capital the company had in its Africa operations and managed to weather the crisis. StarTimes now has three networks covering 900 million people in 45 Sub-Saharan countries. It broadcasts programs on more than 430 channels. Also, it owns and operates 38 of these channels. The investment in Africa has reached $500 million.

To woo more African viewers, StarTimes has a translation and dubbing team to dub Chinese TV programs into English, French as well as Swahili and Hausa. The dubbed Chinese dramas and films present a remote and exotic land to African audiences and are unexpectedly well received. StarTimes has a 26,000-square-meter African headquarters and base for the translations and dubbing in Nairobi, to be operational from 2017.

His experience in working with African partners has made Pang realize that China and Africa have no conflict of core interests. Though in different stages of development, they have the same goals and interests. Win-win cooperation therefore has great potential.

While Pang's African dream is being realized, StarTimes is transforming itself into a communication giant whose business also includes producing and distributing TV programs.

On the eve of the Second Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit in Johannesburg, Pang describes how StarTimes' development strategy is helping Africa grow digitally. Excerpts from his interview follow:

ChinAfrica: At the state level, China-Africa cooperation is characterized by the principles of win-win and joint development. What principles do you follow while operating on the continent?

Pang Xinxing: Digitalization of radio and television is critical to social development and enriching people's cultural life. StarTimes has dedicated itself to this cause.

We have helped African countries popularize digital TV with a public-private-partnership approach. Local governments, the people and the media have praised what we do. In Nigeria, StarTimes was ranked the most popular digital pay TV operator three years in a row. In Uganda, it was awarded the most popular investor and best digital TV operator. We received a prize from the Tanzanian Government for our contribution to help Tanzania become the first African nation to switch from analog to digital TV.

We have other path-breaking achievements in Africa, like establishing an acclaimed after-sales service system for household appliances. Our competitors have to improve their service and lower charges because of us. Enabling every African family to afford digital TV, watch digital TV and enjoy digital TV "is not just a slogan but the shared vision of every employee at StarTimes. A great business is one that fosters social progress and creates value for society. Only such a company can survive.

How do you source content?

Content is key to digital TV operators. StarTimes has been increasing investment in content. Africans love sports and are crazy about football. In Africa, we offer seven StarTimes in-house sports channels. We also purchase exclusive broadcasting rights for world-class football matches like Bundesliga and Serie A for Sub-Saharan Africa. We are now considering buying Chinese Football Association Super League games and introducing African footballers to Chinese football clubs. It will help boost sports exchanges between China and Africa and expand the influence of the Chinese Super League among Africans.

Chinese have been doing extremely well in swimming, diving, gymnastics and table tennis. There is great potential for sports exchanges between the two sides. StarTimes will gradually introduce those events on its African channels and initiate more offline campaigns so that sports become a new bridge to strengthen the friendship between China and Africa.

Besides dubbing Chinese TV programs, dramas and films for African audiences, we are considering introducing some African ones in China to deepen the cultural understanding between the two sides.