China's invisible influence on media content in Kosovo

A significant portion of the information consumed by Kosovo citizens is produced by media that do not disclose the origin of their funding, while verifying sources of income is almost impossible.

Beyond the fact that Kosovo is seen as a target of Russian propaganda, the country is also exposed to China's economic influence, even though the two countries do not have diplomatic relations.

Data provided to BIRN by Kosovo Customs shows that 13 percent of all imports into Kosovo in 2025 came from China. In practical terms, every seventh product entering the country originates there.

In 2025, imports from China exceeded 919 million euros, out of a total of 7 billion euros in imports, an increase of 9.4 percent compared to 2024, when imports from China were 840 million euros out of 6.4 billion euros in total imports.

The trend of imports from China shows steady growth over the years: in 2020 there were 617 million euros in imports, while in 2023 they reached 788 million euros.

China remains one of Kosovo's main trading partners in terms of imports. Mobile phones, industrial equipment, solar panels, furniture, plastics, toys and car parts dominate the domestic market.

The profile of imports is mainly industrial, technological and construction-related.

A report published on January 12, 2026 by the GAP Institute, notes that in 2025, the largest import partner for Kosovo was Germany, with goods worth 1 billion euros. Turkey ranked second with 929 million euros, closely followed by China with about 920 million euros.

The report also notes that China has consistently been among the top exporters to Kosovo in 2024, 2023, and 2022.

While goods are correctly registered at customs, another dimension of China's presence remains invisible: marketing and media content that can be indirectly financed through the trade chain.

Advertising money: the invisible dimension

In the economy, where there is a market, there is also promotion. But how much of this promotion is transparent and how much is mixed with editorial content? This remains a major puzzle.

"No one in Kosovo has data on how much businesses that import from China advertise in our media. If China is such a big exporter to Kosovo, logically it should also invest in promoting its products," said Kreshnik Gashi, editor-in-chief of Kallxo.com, during an appearance on the show "Kallxo Përnime".

Russian and Chinese investment in the region has increased significantly in recent years, and economic investment is often accompanied by media influence.

In February 2026, the Facebook profile "Kosovo Field Press", with about 20 thousand followers, published a video with the caption: “See what smart cars look like in China.” The video showed people closing car doors just by waving their hands. However, the main purpose of this page, as evidenced by the name, is to inform about local news from the municipality.

On July 24, 2025, "Autoportal” published an article titled: “Electric Vehicles Are the Best-Selling Vehicles in China: What is the 'Recipe' for Their Success?” The article provided statistics on the sale and purchase of electric vehicles in China.

Meanwhile, in a closed Facebook group, "Albania-China Friendship Group"", on September 16, 2023, an analysis titled "Chinese cars are changing history" was published. The video was republished from Radio Ejani.

Available data shows that in some parts of the Western Balkans, salaries, equipment, television studios and other operating expenses for some media outlets are financed from sources that are not made public.

In a statement to BIRN, Imer Mushkolaj, director of the Kosovo Press Council, stressed that “Members of the Council are obliged to be transparent about any sponsored content, i.e. commercial advertising, from anyone and anywhere.”

He added that this issue is regulated by the Kosovo Code of Ethics for the Written Media, which stipulates: “Commercial and political advertisements, as well as sponsored materials, including articles and supplements, must be clearly distinguished from editorial content and identified as such.”

“In sponsored materials, the source of sponsorship must be clearly indicated,” Mushkolaj added.

“Reports on media financing contain incomplete data,” stated Niman Racaj, acting executive director of the Independent Media Commission.

According to him, declared funding usually falls into the categories: audiovisual commercial communications, donations and public funding (as in the case of Radio Television of Kosovo).

However, the regulator only verifies the existence of funds in bank accounts, not their origin. “Without financial stability, there is no editorial independence,” Racaj stressed.

Kosovo has public and private television stations, dozens of cable operators and hundreds of online portals. However, the total advertising market is estimated at around 15 million euros per year — “too small to sustainably finance the entire media landscape,” said Jeton Mehmeti, former chairman of the board of the Independent Media Commission.

Meanwhile, Gashi stressed: “If financial intelligence has not yet identified any suspicious Chinese money entering Kosovo media to rebroadcast their narrative as news, that is a problem for me.”

Retransmission of content

In Albania, Radio Come, with 1.1 million followers on its official Facebook page, operates as a Chinese state media outlet that produces content in Albanian. There is no transparency about its funding or how this content can be distributed to other media outlets that rebroadcast it.

Most of this media's content portrays an economically developed China, good relations with Albania, and content that, according to experts, can be labeled as "soft disinformation," which attempts to profile China as a better alternative to the EU.

BIRN report “The vortex of lies", published in 2023, found that materials published by Radio Ejani were also distributed and rebroadcast in Kosovo.

However, it remains unclear whether this rebroadcast is paid for or simply based on informal content distribution agreements.

BIRN attempted to obtain a statement from Radio Ejani via phone and email, but received no response.

Based on monitoring of posts on the Radio Ejani website, their content is mainly positive news about China and its economy, while in some cases they also report on criminal incidents in other countries, as was also highlighted in the "Whirlpool of Lies" report.

On February 26, 2026, Radio Ejani published a ITEM titled: “9 billion yuan in revenue! Chinese films set record ticket sales worldwide.”

That same day, pUBLIC another news headline: “German businesses attach great importance to the Chinese market and hope to further deepen cooperation with China for mutual benefits and common development.”

Meanwhile, in one post of December 2025, a special recognition was given to a young man from Albania, Ergys Turja, who lives in Shenzhen and found “work and a new direction in life.”

Radio Ejani also has programs dedicated to the economy, including "Economic Realities", where guests are invited for discussions. Another program, “Far but Close”, emphasizes the closeness between China and Albania through various stories.

As for advertising money, cybersecurity expert Benjamin Kolenovic explains that authorities can only track bank transactions within Kosovo's territory. If bank accounts are registered abroad, institutions have no access.

"Everything that happens outside Kosovo, through bank accounts registered abroad, is inaccessible to the state. Under normal conditions, no social network offers API access to governments, with the exception of large governments like the United States or China (in the case of TikTok)," Kolenovic said.

“I have come across Chinese portals that specifically target Kosovo,” he added.

Kolenovic stressed that some media outlets register abroad to benefit from monetization.

“If you look at the local media, most of them list the main location as Switzerland, Germany and so on, because monetization is allowed there. In Kosovo we have a problem with monetization on Meta Platforms. All it takes is a 'virtual machine' to access that other computer and the work is practically done there.”

This makes it even more difficult to trace the real source of income.

An article highlighting the success of Chinese technology, global investments, or China's "development model" may seem like standard reporting, but without transparency about funding or commercial motives.

Officially, Chinese direct investment in Kosovo remains low. However, the economic impact through trade is significant and constantly growing.

In this situation, Kosovo faces a paradox: China's economic influence is large, measurable, and growing, while its potential media influence remains undocumented and unmeasured.

This article was originally published in the newspaper Prishtina Insight