China new CCTV Headquarters finally ready as construction is completed on the bold building in Beijing.

The new CCTV Headquarters - the new main building of China's state broadcaster, China Central Television (CCTV) in Beijing - has been completed after building began in 2004.

The Associated Press (AP) reported this past week that the building of 54 floors is now ready for occupation.

The building with its radical design in the form of a slightly obtuse cubical block as a three dimensional standing structure is helping to redefine the Beijing central business district's landscape as China grows in its image as a world superpower.

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The interesting skyscraper has of course led to a lot of questions - like what it is exactly, whether it should like like that and why it looks like that. It could be that that "asking of questions" is what one of the intangible symbolic attributes of the bold building is and what CCTV wants to convey. The asking of questions is of course one of the cornerstones of journalism after all.

China's CCTV News channel starts Africa Live, a new hour long show about Africa, as its CCTV Africa production office goes into operation.

China Central Television News (CCTVN) (DStv 409), China's 24 hour English news channel, just started a brand-new dedicated, daily, hour long news show about Africa, Africa Live, which can be seen at 19:00 (South African time) since yesterday.

The move is highly significant. Firstly CCTVN, and by implication China, is now following America and Britain with CNN International (DStv 401) and BBC World News (TopTV 400 / DStv 400) which both have dedicated TV reporters, production space and weekly programming specifically devoted to Africa besides rolling news coverage about the continent. (Sky News (DStv 402) also has a South African bureau; though no dedicated programming.) It indicates further, growing interest in the continent by yet another world power.

Secondly CCTVN opened its Africa bureau not in South Africa but in Nairobi, Kenia. It indicates that China has stronger ties with Kenia in general than South Africa, despite South Africa being the media industry leader on the continent with the best broadcasting fascilities. It's also CCTVN's first overseas bureau and production office.

CCTVN which calls the African office, CCTV Africa, plans to open 14 bureaus across Africa by the end of 2012 and news reporting is covering the entire continent.

Africa Live covers news, interviews and documentaries. CCTVN will also have talk shows and inserts such as Talk Africa.