Bao Xiaofeng (left) hosts her first newscast on Xinwen Lianbo on September 12. Photo: Screenshot of CCTV video

As China's top news program, any change on Xinwen Lianbo (literally News Simulcast), which is aired simultaneously by all TV stations on Chinese mainland at 7:00 pm every day, attracts a lot of attention. The new news anchor from Mongolian ethnic minority, who debuted on Saturday, has a hot topic on Chinese social media.

Bao Xiaofeng, who was born in Hohhot in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, hosted her first newscast on Saturday's Xinwen Lianbo, leaving Chinese netizens curious about the new anchor's experience.

Bao was recruited in the China Central Television (CCTV) and hosted several news programs such as Live News Room. She studied broadcasting at Communication University of China from 1997 to 2001. 

Although she said she was very nervous when she heard the opening music to the program, netizens complimented her delivery.  

"I didn't think I would be nervous, but when the opening music started, my palms were sweaty," Bao said in a short video recorded after her debut and posted on CCTV's Sina Weibo account.

 "The new anchor is very self-collected. Though this is her first show in Xinwen Lianbo, she performed well," netizen "juwairen" wrote on Sina Weibo.

The hashtag Bao's debut had been viewed more than 220 million times on Sina Weibo as of Sunday afternoon, showing the reach and influence of the news program around the country.

Bao's identity as a member of Mongolian ethnic minority group has also been noticed by netizens. "The anchor from Mongolian ethnic minority has a steady voice and behaves elegantly, giving me a deep impression," netizen "sujian" wrote.

A news anchor of Mongolian descent on China's top news program indicates people from ethnic minorities have an equal chance to reach the top of their profession, many netizens observed.

News anchor Pan Tao made his debut on Xinwen Lianbo on Thursday. They inject fresh blood in the program that has been broadcast since January 1 in 1978.