Officials and organisation from various countries have congratulated China Media Group on the 80th anniversary of China’s first overseas broadcasting service, CGTN reports.

Yan’an Xinhua Radio Station, the predecessor of China National Radio (CNR) and China Radio International (CRI), launched a broadcasting service on 3 December 1941, heralding the start of China’s overseas broadcasting services.

Decades later, the service is still going strong, and officials and organisations from different countries and regions have sent letters and videos to CMG to congratulate the broadcaster on the anniversary.

“Congratulations to China’s international broadcasters,” said British Consul-General to Chongqing Stephen Ellison in his congratulatory video.

Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov hailed the timely and accurate news dissemination in his congratulatory video.

He said CMG had professionals “who always uphold the principle of objectivity and fairness in news reporting and have won the high trust and lasting attention of the global audience”.

Congratulations also came from the Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian People’s Consultative Assembly Lestari Moerdijat, the Speaker of the Kenyan Senate, Kenneth Lusaka, and the Hungarian Workers’ Party chairman Gyula Thürmer.