Murdoch and his son James, chairman and CEO of Star Group, were in Beijing to meet Chinese officials ahead of the launch of the channel, Xingkong Weishi.
In a statement, Murdoch said: "I expect the new channel to be the first in a series of many successful projects we can achieve here."
The News Corp-owned Star TV was last year given permission to broadcast a Chinese channel in the Guandong region, as part of a deal with Chinese authorities which will see News Corp broadcast an English version of China Central TV in the US.
Eyebrows were raised, however, when it was revealed that the channel was to be broadcast in Mandarin, while Guandong is a mainly Cantonese-speaking area.
News Corp is said to be hoping to gain nationwide distribution for Xingkong Weishi, which is why it chose to broadcast the channel in Mandarin, the most widely-spoken language in China.
According to a spokesman for the Chinese ministry for radio, film and television: "It is hoped that your [News Corp] channel will bring quality television entertainment to the Chinese viewers. We look forward to expanding our collaboration into other areas."
Xingkong Weishi will be an entertainment channel with gameshows, dance shows, a nightly talkshow and sitcoms, such as a Chinese version of US hit comedy 'Friends', called 'Joyful Youth'.
Two other licences were granted by Beijing alongside Xingkong Weishi -- Phoenix TV, which is 38% owned by News Corp, and AOL Time Warner's China Entertainment TV.
The move marks a huge turning point in China's media landscape because foreign broadcasters have only been allowed to broadcast in three-star and above hotels and foreigner-approved residence compounds.
The Chinese government and Communist Party are said by analysts to be realising the importance of the media in maintaining social stability ahead of a leadership reshuffle in government this year.
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