This Day, That Year: Sept 2

Editor's note: This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China.

On Sept 2, 1958, China Central Television (formerly Beijing Television) went into official operation. For the first time, domestic TV signals were broadcast in Beijing.

In 1972, CCTV conducted its first simultaneous satellite broadcasts nationwide.

From 1973, it began broadcasting experimentally in color on its second channel, and fully converted to color broadcasting by 1977.

By 1985, CCTV had become a leading television network in China, and by 1987 its popularity had soared due to the adaptation and presentation of Dream of the Red Chamber.

The 36-episode TV series was the first Chinese television drama to enter the global market.

In December 1996, CCTV's website began trial operations, and on Sept 2,2008, a new CCTV headquarters was opened to mark its 50th anniversary, as seen in an item from China Daily.

CCTV currently has a network of about 50 channels, broadcasting different programs, and is accessible to more than 1 billion viewers. The broadcaster provides programming in different languages.

CCTV has opened offices in dozens of countries and regions as well as at the United Nations.

It dispatches reporters to cover major events in various parts of the world, whenever such events take place.

Its rapid development over the past six decades reflects the dramatic changes in the country's television sector. In 1978, China had fewer than one television set per 100 people. In 1987, the country overtook Japan as the world's largest manufacturer of TV sets, and in 2016 it produced 58 percent of them.

Since Dream of the Red Chamber, China has become one of the largest producers of content for television and online, with at least 400 dramas a year, half of them sold overseas.

The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television said that in China more than 1,600 domestic movies and television productions have been translated into 36 languages in recent years, including English, French, Russian, Spanish, Arabic and Portuguese, and they have been aired, or are currently being aired, in more than 100 countries.