The two will work together to produce education and consumer programmes, as well as some publishing initiatives, for China's 350m television households.
According to Pearson, the programmes being developed will create significant advertising opportunities for international corporations looking to promote their products in China.
The new venture, which will be based in Beijing, will be called Pearson CTV Media and will be 50% owned by Pearson and 40% owned by CTV Media, the publicly traded multimedia and production arm of CCTV, the Chinese state broadcaster. The remaining 10% will be owned by Cyber Solutions, a Beijing-based broadband company.
From March 2002, CCTV will provide the joint venture with distribution across its TV network, which reaches more than 1bn viewers every day, Pearson said.
Pearson said that four TV series were already planned, with two in production. They will be broadcast on CCTV's Channel 5, which airs sports, and Channel 10, which airs education and culture programmes. They will be broadcast early next year.
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