Beijing Review,China's only national English weekly news magazine, held a banquet on September 26 in Beijing, celebrating the publication's 50th anniversary.

More than 300 guests attended the gathering, including government officials, foreign diplomats and representatives of international organizations, media persons, Beijing Review's business partners, and the staff, retirees and consultants of Beijing Review.

Cai Mingzhao, Vice Minister of the State Council Information Office and President of China International Publishing Group (CIPG), read a congratulatory letter from Liu Yunshan, Member of the Political Bureau and the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, to start the celebration. It was followed by speeches by Wang Chen, Minister of the State Council Information Office, Li Dongdong, Vice Minister of General Administration of Press and Publications, Zhou Mingwei, Executive Vice President of CIPG, with which Beijing Review is affiliated, and Wang Gangyi, President and Editor in Chief of Beijing Review, who is also Deputy Editor in Chief of CIPG.

Founded in 1958, the weekly's English version was originally called Peking Review, but later was changed to Beijing Review. As a serious publication featuring news and views about China, Beijing Review has targeted foreign government organs, think tanks, academic institutions and transnational companies that study and follow what is happening in China. It has maintained a wide readership covering more than 100 countries on five continents.

Liu said in his letter to Beijing Review, "In the past five decades, Beijing Review has served as China's most authentic English-language news magazine following closely on the development trends of the New China, timely introducing its principles and policies to the world, reporting on the achievements of the Chinese people in various fields, and explaining the Chinese Government's stance on major international issues. Beijing Review has become an important channel for the world to understand and know about China. It is warmly received by readers from different nations, and has made positive contributions to the mutual understanding and friendship of the Chinese people and peoples around the world."

It is believed that Beijing Review was an outcome of the government's opening-up policy. During the Bandung Asia-Africa Conference in 1955 and thereafter, then Premier Zhou Enlai received a number of foreign diplomats and journalists who proposed that China establish a news publication in foreign languages to enable foreign readers, and suspicious Westerners in particular, to have a better understanding of the young republic, which was just founded in 1949.

It was under the auspices of the government that the first issue of Beijing Review in English came out in March 1958. Premier Zhou and his cabinet members paid much attention to the magazine and they even took some time to visit the newsroom to attend editorial meetings.

In 1992, then Chinese President Jiang Zemin praised the magazine as "a window into China and a friend of the world." In 2006, President Hu Jintao wrote to Beijing Review after reading the magazine's special issue marking the 55th anniversary of China-Pakistan diplomatic relations. "It is hoped that Beijing Review will continue its efforts in promoting cooperation and traditional friendship between China and Pakistan," he wrote.