Bai Yansong

Bai is also a member of the 21st Century Committee for China-Japan Friendship, a group that consults the two countries on policies concerning their mutual relations. Following a 2008 meeting of the group, he spoke approvingly of a speech by then Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda for emphasizing a collective view of their interests stating that "For Sino-Japanese relations, it is no longer the question of 'You' and 'I'. Now we are a community of interests with our feet in Asia and facing the world together." Following anti-Japanese demonstrations over the East China Sea islands dispute, Bai decried acts of violence during the protests as committing crimes under the guise of patriotism.

Following the Sichuan earthquake, Bai hosted a live program together with fellow CCTV hosts in order to raise funds for disaster relief. He also made a show of support for the victims when he was carrying the Olympic torch for the 2008 Olympics relay.

In the midst of warming ties between China and Japan, Bai filmed a documentary piece for CCTV in 2007 focusing on Japanese culture and the early history of Sino-Japanese relations. He had proposed filming the piece a year before, but says it was considered too sensitive to air until relations improved. Bai later presided over a forum on Sino-Japanese relations, which included ministerial-level officials from Japan and China and discussed issues such as military spending and Tibet.

Bai started his journalistic career working for the China Broadcasting Newspaper of the Central People's Broadcasting Station, but did not consider himself suitable for televised news. He helped found the CCTV program Oriental Horizon and was chosen to be a regular anchor for the show in January 1996, sharing the post with several other journalists. Along with his co-anchors, Bai was seen as politically incisive and his work on Oriental Horizon gained him national notoriety as a television host. He hosted the first talk show in China, Tell It Like It Is alongside Shui Junyi and Cui Yongyuan and other popular news hosts.

Bai Yansong (Chinese: 白岩松 ; pinyin: Bái Yánsōng ) (born August 20, 1968) is a Chinese news commentator, anchor and journalist for China Central Television (CCTV). He has become one of the most recognizable figures in China, serving as the lead anchor on stories such as the Sydney Olympics and the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Bai worked in the newspaper industry before moving to televised news and eventually became an anchor for Focus Report and Oriental Horizon, where he had a reputation as a politically incisive journalist. During his time with CCTV, Bai has been involved in the establishment of several news commentary programs including Timeline and News 1 + 1, the first live news commentary program in China. He has also been the anchor on several more news programs and was a host on the talk show Tell It Like It Is.

Bai was born in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia on August 20, 1968. His parents were intellectuals in Inner Mongolia and his father had been condemned as an "anti-revolutionary" when China was under the leadership of Mao Zedong. Both of Bai's parents were professors and he grew up on the campus of a university during his time in Inner Mongolia. Bai later graduated from the Beijing Broadcasting Institute in 1989.

He became anchor of Focus Report on China Central Television when it was the only news commentary program in China. During his time as anchor, Bai covered news stories such as the handovers of Hong Kong and Macau, the 50th Anniversary of the People's Republic of China, and the Sydney Olympics, making him one of the most recognizable figures in China. He has also established several news programs on CCTV such as Timeline, modeled after Ted Koppel's Nightline on ABC News. Bai's reporting was the primary subject of a book about Focus Report that was written by the show's producer. News 1 + 1, another news program Bai started, was the first live news commentary program in China.

Bai has served as a spokesman for efforts against HIV/AIDS in China. He was named the Image Ambassador for the AIDS Prevention Education Project for Chinese Youth following the project's establishment and served as an ambassador for the China Red Ribbon Foundation. As a CRRF ambassador, Bai attended a gala that the group organized to promote efforts against AIDS on the eve of the 25th World AIDS Day. During the gala, Bai held on-stage interviews with the Chinese Health Minister, the Executive Director of the CRRF, and the General Manager for the Global Fund.