Cheng Lei

Cheng Lei (; born 1975) is a Chinese-born Australian television news anchor and business reporter. She served as a prominent news anchor for Chinese state owned English-language news channel China Global Television Network (CGTN) in Beijing from 2012 to 2020 and also hosted the Global Business program which airs on CGTN. She had previously worked for nine years as CNBC's China correspondent. In September 2020, after she had been detained by Chinese authorities in mid-August, a government official said Cheng Lei was "suspected of carrying out criminal activities endangering China’s national security", but no details about the accusations were provided. The International Federation of Journalists said her detention was "without cause or reason" and "deeply concerning". Cheng was formally arrested in February 2021 "on suspicion of illegally supplying state secrets overseas", according to a statement from Australia's foreign minister Marise Payne. Cheng was released and returned to Australia in October 2023. Early life and education Cheng Lei was born in Yueyang, Hunan province, in 1975. In 1985, at the age of 10, she migrated to Melbourne with her family so that her father could pursue a PhD program. In 1992, Cheng began a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Queensland, graduating in 1995. Cheng is a certified practising accountant and accredited Chinese-English translator. Cheng has said she wanted to be a journalist rather than an accountant, but was encouraged into accounting by her father. He questioned whether an Australian TV station would hire a Chinese reporter and said accounting would ensure her employability.