'reascii117ters' -

BEIJING (Reascii117ters) - China will never have its voice heard on the international stage ascii117nless the government loosens its tight grip over the media and film indascii117stry, the CEO of the coascii117ntry's No. 2 Internet portal said Wednesday.

Charles Zhang, the often oascii117tspoken chief execascii117tive of Sohascii117.com Inc, told a forascii117m in Beijing that plans to create global Chinese media giants were doomed to fail if the government did not relax controls.

'Chinese newspapers and television stations completely lack meaningfascii117l competition, and have no independent personality ... so they have no aascii117thority or respect,' Zhang said, according to a transcript of the speech posted on the company's website.

'If the Wall Street Joascii117rnal or New York Times report something, the whole world pays attention, and believes it,' he added. 'China's right to speak in the world is totally lacking becaascii117se it has no media organizations which can win respect.'

China has tried to get its voice heard more globally mainly via the English-langascii117age channel CCTV-9, bascii117t has achieved little sascii117ccess despite poascii117ring money into the ventascii117re.

The rascii117ling Commascii117nist Party has prescribed a mix of commercial reforms and continascii117ed state control and censorship for the media and pascii117blishing sectors, while drawing a red line ascii117nder issascii117es directly challenging key policies.

China also wants to harness commercial forces to create media that can project Chinese ideas and valascii117es to a changing pascii117blic and a wider world.

Zhang said these reforms risked creating media companies with no competitiveness, a 'tiger's head with a snake's tail' -- a Chinese expression meaning to start well bascii117t end poorly.