BEIJING - CNC Holdings Limited, a newly-named company owned by the TV arm of China's state-run Xinhua News Agency, made its debut on Wednesday on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The debut came after a shareholders' meeting of the listing Tsun Yip Holdings Limited on January 16 decided to change its name to CNC Holdings Limited "based on the company's new business direction," while its stock code remained unchanged, a news release said.

Shareholders' rights will be unaffected by the name change, according to the release.

The website of the company has been changed from www.tsunyip.hk to www.cnctv.hk as of Wednesday, while CNC's logo and symbol have been in use by the company since February 3.

According to CNC, three shareholders of its Asia Pacific's channel carrier, including CNC limited Co, APT Satellite Company Limited (APT) and Ao Rong Investment Corporation, had signed an agreement with Tsun Yip Holdings on September 6.

Under the agreement, Tsun Yip Holdings purchased all the shares of CNC Asia Pacific's channel carrier at a cost of HK$700 million ($90.27 million), with price of newly-issued shares being set at HK$0.196 per share.

After completing the transaction under legal procedures on December 9, CNC's HK branch held 28.5 percent stake in Tsun Yip Holdings, becoming its largest shareholder, and a new board of directors had been established, with Wu Jincai, CNC president and Xinhua's deputy editor-in-chief, as chairman.

With the move, CNC's overseas news service has gained support from the international capital market, a boost which can lay foundations for it to build a modernized media institution with global influence and competitiveness, the news release said.

Wu Jincai said that CNC aims to localize its services while extending its global reach, and will also seek to improve its news reporting and the quality of its programs.

Furthermore, CNC will build itself in accordance with the modern enterprise system into a world's first-class media organization, Wu added.

Established in 2009 as part of Xinhua's ambition to build a multimedia press institution, CNC kicked off its Chinese channel on January 1, 2010, and its English channel on July 1, 2010. Both channels target audiences of all over the world, available via satellite, cable TV, digital media, the Internet, and other platforms.

CNC's signal has reached nearly 60 countries and regions including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Thailand.