Guancha.cn () is a Chinese

news site An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical. Going online created more opportunities for newspa ...

based in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, founded by Eric X. Li, a

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

-educated

venture capitalist Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in terms of number ...

and a

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

at the

Fudan University Fudan University (FDU) is a public university, national public university in Yangpu, Shanghai, Yangpu, Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education and is co-funded with the Shanghai Municipal ...

. Guancha.cn has been categorized in an

Amsterdam University Press Amsterdam University Press (AUP) is a university press that was founded in 1992 by the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. It is based on the university press model and operates on a not-for-profit basis. AUP publishes scholarly and trade ...

study as a privately owned

internet platform The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a network of networks that consists of private, publi ...

outside of state-controlled media and is noted for its pro-

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

and

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

-skeptical views, having been described as a

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

website, with

Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse (; AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency. With 2,400 employees of 100 nationalities, AFP has an editorial presence in 260 c ...

and ''

The Conversation ''The Conversation'' is a 1974 American neo-noir mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It stars Gene Hackman as a surveillance expert who faces a moral dilemma when his recordings reveal a potential ...

'' calling it

ultranationalist Ultranationalism, or extreme nationalism, is an extremist form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its specific ...

About

Guancha.cn mainly publishes online news content in Chinese. Its homepage format consists of a headline news, followed by a "left column" consisting of op-eds, a "central column" consisting of news, and a "right column", consisting of

user generated content User-generated content (UGC), alternatively known as user-created content (UCC), emerged from the rise of web services which allow a system's users to create content, such as images, videos, audio, text, testimonials, and software (e.g. video ...

. Its content is mainly focused on international news and affairs, with an additional focus on economic issues. The website's reader demographics is "predominantly young people". Guancha also publishes content in other formats, such as video. Guancha's official account has 7.46 million fans on the

video sharing An online video platform (OVP) enables users to upload, convert, store, and play back video content on the Internet, often via a private server structured, large-scale system that may generate revenue. Users will generally upload video content vi ...

website

Bilibili Bilibili (stylized in all lowercase), nicknamed B Site, is a Chinese online video sharing website based in Shanghai where users can submit, view, and add overlaid commentary on videos. Bilibili hosts videos on various themes, including ...

, frequented mainly by young people, as of September 2023. It also has a number of other affiliated video accounts, some associated with individual content producers. The website's motto is stated as "Chinese heart, global perspective; understand the world from here; independent and responsible". The website describes itself as a "online news and comments aggregator".

History

Guancha.cn was founded in 2012. Before its founding, an online platform known as "Social observer" had been founded by Shanghai Chunqiu Development Strategy Research Institute in 2010; this was described by Doublethink Labs as "Guancha's genesis". A key event during Guancha's formative period was its coverage of Zhang Weiwei's 2011 debate with Francis Fukuyama, where Zhang Weiwei promoted the "Chinese model" and questioned Western democracy. Zhang Weiwei is also a co-founder of Guancha. Guancha was originally launched as Social Observer's online arm, but the two became officially disaffiliated in 2014. In 2013, a number of techno-nationalists calling themselves the " Industrial Party" joined the site and have influenced it. In 2020, the website has spoken out against

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

's suspension from

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. Donald Trump was described as a "key driver of clicks for Guancha". In 2021, the website criticized

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

's ban of using components from

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

. In 2024, Guancha criticized stand-up comedian Yang Li as "divisive".

References

External links

*{{Official (in Chinese) 2012 establishments in Shanghai Chinese nationalist organizations Chinese ultranationalism Chinese news websites Chinese propaganda organisations Internet properties established in 2012 Technocracy movement