Steady anchor

Edwin Maher at the signing event for his new book Caught on CCTV! held in Beijing. Photos provided to China Daily

In his new book, CCTV's Edwin Maher relives his decade on Chinese television. Xing Yi reports.

When you are a Westerner and you have lived for a decade in China, you're bound to have many stories to tell.

So it is for Edwin Maher, who has worked at the country's state television as a foreign anchor since 2004. Last Thursday, he launched his book, in which he shares his observations on and stories from the fast-paced media industry in this ever-changing country.

The title of the book, Caught on CCTV!, is a play on words. In most English-speaking countries, CCTV stands for closed-circuit television, but for the Chinese, it only means China Central Television, the country's biggest broadcaster with millions of viewers.

A New Zealander, Maher was the first non-Asian face anchoring the news program on its English channel that was launched in 2000.

Maher writes about the many highlights during his stay in China, including being bestowed the Friendship Award, the highest award the Chinese government gives annually to expatriates who have contributed to the country, and meeting the previous premier, Wen Jiabao.

His most memorable experience, he says, was his first show on CCTV.

"I was quite anxious when I went to the studio," recalls Maher, who had been a veteran TV reporter and weatherman in Australian Broadcasting Corporation before he came to China.

"By the grace of God, or, in this case, perhaps Confucius, everything seemed to go OK."