China Radio International on 7295 kHz: CRI for Europe via the Albanian relay

What you hear

In the European evening 7295 kHz carries China Radio International, and which language you hear depends on the hour: CRI runs its European services in one-hour blocks, and the Albanian relay serves several of them in turn. Our data says only that it is CRI to Europe in the evening, so listen and let the identification tell you; it may be English or one of the other European languages. Whatever the language, the pattern is the same as on every CRI frequency: news from Beijing at the top of the hour, with the emphasis on China's economy and foreign relations, then features on Chinese culture, travel, history and daily life, language lessons and music. The audio is clean, and the signal, from a big transmitter a few hundred kilometres from most of Europe, is usually strong.

Who transmits and why

China Radio International is China's external broadcaster, the successor to Radio Peking, with a history reaching back to the 1940s and the present name since 1993. It is one of the largest shortwave broadcasters left in the world and has kept transmitting to Europe long after the Europeans themselves stopped. To do that without relying on long paths from China, CRI leases or operates relay stations closer to the audience. Albania is the notable one: the shortwave site at Cërrik, in central Albania, dates from the years when Radio Tirana broadcast to the world, and since the 2000s its high-power transmitters have carried CRI's European services.

The arrangement suits both sides: Albania keeps a large transmitter site in use, and CRI gets a signal that reaches Europe on a lower, more reliable band than anything that could come direct from Beijing or Kashi.

When and where to listen

7295 kHz is in the 41 metre band, just above the amateur 40 metre band, which ends at 7200 kHz in Europe. 41 metres is at its best in the evening and at night over distances up to a couple of thousand kilometres, and from Albania that means the whole of Europe. Receivers in Italy, Greece, the Balkans, Austria and Hungary hear the station very strongly; Germany, Poland, France and the Netherlands get a solid signal; Britain, Scandinavia and the Baltics are a little weaker but usually fine after dark. From Russia west of the Urals the signal is good in the evening. In summer the block may begin while it is still light over northern Europe, and the first hour can be weaker there.

The nearness of the amateur band is harmless: ham signals stay below 7200 kHz. The real neighbours are other broadcasters 5 kHz either side of 7295 kHz, and a narrower filter or the sideband away from the louder one separates them.

In ShackDeck

Station catalogue → Shortwave broadcast → China Radio International 7295. The program picks a public receiver that covers 7295 kHz, tunes it and sets AM; nothing of your own is needed. CRI's Russian service, from Kashi and Beijing on 5905 and 6100 kHz, has its own entries in the catalogue, starting with the afternoon block.