China News Service (CNS) is not only a state-level news agency in China with spreading news worldwide as its main task, but also an international news agency with the compatriots from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao, overseas Chinese and related foreigners as its major subscribers.

CNS was sponsored and established by Chinese journalists and renowned overseas Chinese experts on October 1, 1952. Liao Chengzhi, former vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National people's Congress, was the founder as well as the leader of CNS. Besides him, other sponsors and builders were also big names in the fields of culture and journalism, such as Jin Zhonghua, Hu Yuzhi and Hong Sisi. Jin Zhonghua, a well-known expert on international issues, was the first president of CNS. In a previous existence, CNS was the International News Service established by Fan Changjiang and Hu Yuzhi in 1938.

CNS functions as: a state-level new agency spreading news worldwide, a database of information from global Chinese-language media, and an international news agency. It fulfills its responsibility through: traditional style of reports, including scripts, photos and special articles; new style of reports, mainly Internet, communication, videos, and SMS; content provision to overseas Chinese-language newspapers; and self-running newspapers and journals.

There are more than 1000 employees in CNS at present. CNS is headquartered in Beijing. It has set up not only 28 branches in China’s mainland, Hong Kong and Macao, but also branches or report stations in Tokyo, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, New York, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, London, paris, Sydney and Moscow. Meanwhile, it has reporters in Taiwan. News release centers are established in Beijing, New York and Hong Kong.

Based on a multi-channel, multi-level and multi-function news release system, CNS provides all kinds of products regarding news and information, namely scripts, photos, websites, videos and SMS, without pause in 24 hours a day. The clients and cooperation partners of CNS spread all over the world.

As a Chinese-language media, CNS is the pioneer in Asia setting up its Internet portal. The website www.chinanews.com was launched in Hong Kong in 1995. On January 1, 1999, the headquarters of CNS launched its official website named Chinanews (www.chinanews.com.cn) providing online service. Chinanews is an important news website in China.

China News Weekly, edited and published by CNS, is one of the most well-known political weeklies. “The Forum on Global Chinese Language Media”, hosted by CNS every two years, is the largest summit between leaders of global Chinese language media. The forum has been held in Nanjing, Wuhan, Changsha, Chengdu and Shanghai separately.