She Hosted Focus Interview for 20 Years. Then She Bowed and Said Nothing.

Jing Yidan: the gentle and resolute one has gone

She hosted Focus Interview for more than 20 years and Touching China for 19.

On September 13, 2026, Jing Yidan’s daughter released a notice: “My dearest mother, the ‘Sister Jing’ everyone knows, left today.” She was 71.

For Chinese viewers who watched her for decades, the name “Jing Yidan” carried specific memories. She was the woman on Focus Interview whose voice was soft and whose gaze was steady. She was the woman on Touching China who read the names of the people of the year. She was the “Sister Jing” they trusted.

Jing Yidan was born on April 27, 1955, in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province. In 1976, she entered the Beijing Broadcasting Institute, now the Communication University of China, to study broadcasting and hosting. In 1988, she joined China Central Television as a reporter, editor, and host. She later became a broadcasting director. Her programs included Economy 30 Minutes, Yidan’s Topic, Focus Interview, Oriental Horizon, Live China, The Voice, News Probe, and Touching China. Her career ran through the reform of Chinese TV news.

She changed what a news host could sound like. Many people expected a news host to read with perfect articulation and a solemn face. Jing Yidan did not. Her voice was soft and mellow. She spoke slowly. She listened. She did not read at the audience; she talked with them. She brought sincerity and reason into news commentary, and she made room for human detail.

In 1993, she hosted Yidan’s Topic, the first TV program in China named after an individual. In 1994, she began hosting Focus Interview. She stayed with it for more than 20 years. At that desk, she asked about complex social issues. Her style was steady, restrained, and touched by pain. She did not treat public issues as cold exposure. She also looked at the people inside them.

From 2002, she hosted the Touching China annual award ceremony for 19 years. Focus Interview showed her serious side. Touching China showed her warmth. She read the names of ordinary people who had done difficult things. Many viewers watched every spring. When they heard her voice, they felt there were still things in the country worth believing in. That yearly ritual became part of their memory.

Her peers recognized her work. She won the first three National Golden Microphone Awards, one of the highest honors in Chinese hosting. She was one of the first hosts of Economy 30 Minutes, CCTV’s early economic program. She was also the station’s first on-camera reporter with a master’s degree in broadcasting. She worked as reporter, editor, and host at once. Her authority came from thought, preparation, and respect for the news.

But people remember more than the awards. They remember the moments when she was simply herself.

Around 1998, 1999, or 2000, Jing Yidan appeared on a talk show with other hosts, something like Tell It Like It Is. A viewer remembered learning about this fellow Harbin native there. Jing Yidan said some viewers complained about her. They wanted her off the air. They said she was too serious, that she did not smile, that she always had a cold face, that she was not friendly. As she said this, she laughed. Her laugh was open and dignified. People understood: she could smile. She left seriousness to the camera and laughter to life. On a program like Focus Interview, a cold face carried professional weight.

In 2008, the Olympic torch relay reached Harbin. Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao ran the first leg. Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo ran the last. Jing Yidan ran in the middle. She made a V sign. In 2025, she was a torchbearer for the Harbin Asian Winter Games. She had been retired for ten years. She still ran for her hometown. Her tie to Heilongjiang never broke.

She also hosted an internal Spring Festival gala. There she shouted a line that made the room laugh: “On a night like this, besides creating human beings, what else could we pursue?” The line showed a different side of her. The solemn Sister Jing on Focus Interview could be funny and loose.

On April 30, 2015, she hosted her last episode of Focus Interview. She retired. She did not say goodbye. She bowed deeply. The bow thanked the audience, marked the end of her post, and honored the era she had worked in. She did not make a long speech. She had always been restrained, and deeply affectionate.

After retirement, she kept working. She published prose. She joined video programs. She talked with viewers in new ways. She said retirement should have a sense of relaxation, but you should still notice what excites you and treat it with care. She did that. She moved from being a CCTV face to being a freer person.

Jing Yidan’s contribution to broadcasting and hosting was not only the number of famous programs she hosted. She expanded what a news host could be. She showed that a host did not have to choose between warmth and rigor. On Focus Interview, she asked about individual lives inside public issues. On Touching China, she read the names slowly and clearly. She worked through the reform of Chinese TV news and helped shape it.

People who lit up our childhood leave the stage as we grow up. News of their death arrives later, without warning, and reminds us they were there. Jing Yidan has gone. Her soft, mellow voice is still here. Her deep bow is still here. The V sign she made as she ran toward the torch is still here. The moment she laughed in that interview is still here. They are like sounds on old cassette tapes. When they play, they are still clear.

The tapes still play.