StarTimes' Kenyan team

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.

What is StarTimes' development strategy in Africa in the next five years?

Our development strategy is in line with the development of African society, especially the information industry. The International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations agency, had earlier required its members to upgrade from analog to digital TV before June 17, 2015. But due to the unequal economic development of the members, the deadline was extended to 2020 in Africa. Therefore, promoting the digitalization of radio and TV in Africa is StarTimes' main task in the next five years. We will continue our efforts to provide affordable digital TV services across the continent, increasing the number of our subscribers to 30 million and network coverage to 40 nations. In five years, we will be the digital TV operator with the most subscribers in Africa.

We will also strengthen content production by translating and dubbing more Chinese TV programs and opening channels exclusively for Chinese programs in multiple local languages. We will support and invest in local businesses to produce African TV programs. We will open StarTimes-owned and operated radio and TV stations and introduce world-renowned TV programs and films on our channels to enrich our content.

Last but not least, we are planning to launch a "smart family" campaign, combining Internet and digital TV technology to provide better service.

StarTimes is said to attach great importance to localization and training local employees. How is this followed in Africa?

StarTimes has over 4,000 employees, 3,000 of whom are based in Africa. Of the staff in Africa, 94 percent are recruited locally. We now have two African vice presidents. The local employees in the African branches hold different positions, from senior technicians and managerial staff to ordinary workers. The number of local employees has been increasing year by year.

We train African employees at the Beijing headquarters on a regular basis. No matter what the color of your skin is, as soon as you step inside the StarTimes gate, you are a member of the family. Everyone is equal. We respect each other and are a happy and harmonious family.

What has been StarTimes' corporate social responsibility?

Since June 2011, StarTimes has been holding an annual event, the African Digital TV Development Seminar, to discuss the path to digitalization across the continent. More and more countries and senior officials are attending the event. There were 130 delegates from 35 countries at this year's seminar in June.

Digital TV should be accessible to everyone, rich or poor. Besides urban areas, our digital TV services are available in remote areas too through direct satellite broadcasts. We do this not just for profit.

We have also been donating TV sets and set boxes to local schools and orphanages. When Ebola broke out, we produced noncommercial advertisements to make people aware how to prevent infections and help calm them down. Our efforts were well received, especially in Guinea. We do all this not for show but to do what a company should do. The existence of a company is meaningful only when it does something useful for society.

You have been to many African countries and done business with Africans for years. What have you learned?

We have a lot to learn from Africans. For example, they have better environmental awareness. The first country I went to in Africa was South Africa. I took a bus to a national park. The driver of the bus saw a trash bag fall off the bus ahead and stopped immediately to pick it up and stow it on our bus. When a friend and I went to visit a scenic spot in Cape Town, my friend lit a cigarette in a non-smoking area. An old gentleman saw that and pointed my friend to a small can, indicating the cigarette should be snuffed out.

Africans respect nature. You can see animals running around free, which is unlikely to happen in China. Moreover, they respect law and order. You can hardly find roadhogs or someone jumping a line.