China's Xinhua News Agency leases a sign in New York's Times Square to display its advertisement. [Xinhua]
An advertisement promoting China's state-run Xinhua News Agency launched in New York's Times Square, the world's most famous advertising space, in the media agency's latest effort to increase its global reach.
Glowing on a large LED screen, measuring 19 meters by 12 meters, Xinhua News Agency's sign sits atop 2 Times Square above the banners for Samsung, Coca-Cola and Hyundai Auto.
The board alternatively splashes the advertisement of Xinhua and promotional videos for two Chinese cities.
Brain Turner, president of Sherwood Outdoor, which manages the ad space of 2 Times Square and 1 Times Square, said the space had been leased by HSBC bank for the past decade.
He said after HSBC terminated its ten-year ad contract a few months ago, Xinhua signed a long-term contract to take over the space.
Turner declined to disclose how long Xinhua will rent the ad space and how much it paid in rental fees.
According to a report by the New York Times, advertisement space in such a prime location may be worth as much as US$300,000-400,000 a month. If Xinhua signed a five-year contract, the total fees paid may amount to tens of millions of dollars.
Xinhua News Agency set up its first New York office in Woodside, Queens in 1971 and moved in May to a higher-profile office on Broadway in Times Square. Xinhua's new office is located next to the headquarters of media giants Reuters, the Associated Press and Bloomberg News.
