Australian public broadcaster the ABC has been given permission to broadcast its Australia Network content to the entire Chinese population.

The unprecedented deal gives the ABC more access than any other Western news network to the massive population.

Australia Network is known as a ‘soft diplomacy’ service, providing Australian TV shows from a number of networks as well as some tailored Australian and Asian news bulletins.

The new deal will see the Network streamed through an online portal hosted by Shanghai Media Group, China's second largest media company.

It will be accessible to every one of China’s 618 million internet users, or about 45 per cent of the population.

Australia Network executives will attend an official signing ceremony in Shanghai on May 4, just a few days before the Abbott government's first budget, which many believe will include some kind of budget cut or restriction on the ABC.

Insiders say the deal is truly incredible, as global media giant News Corp and Google both failed to introduce their services to the sometimes secretive nation.

The British BBC World Service and America's CNN International are currently the only foreign broadcasters allowed to put content on in China, though their broadcasts are limited to diplomatic compounds and a few international hotels.

Chinese broadcasters can buy Australia Network content under the new deal, allowing them to run on televisions nationwide.

Popular content will include shows such as ABC’s Q&A, an episode of which was filmed in China last week, news programs, documentaries, plus lighter viewing like Play School, Home & Away and Bananas in Pyjamas.

“Ground-breaking international broadcasts such as Q&A, which was produced as a collaboration between Australian and Chinese television crews, pave the way for bigger and better international media co-operation and cultural connections in the future,” says Sun Wei, executive director of the Shanghai Media Group's International Channel Shanghai.

“Importantly, the agreement will provide opportunities for promotion of Australian business, tourism, entertainment, culture and education and can include video content from Australia Network,” said Lynley Marshall, chief executive of ABC International.

Veteran media buyer Harold Mitchell has told the Sydney Morning Herald that the deal showed “an incredible acceptance by China of Australia”.

“This is one of the most important breakthroughs in communications between our countries. No one else has been able to do it,” Mr Mitchell said.

“It is one of the greatest ways we can way continue on with the Prime Minister's very successful visit to China last week.”

The Prime Minister has not been the biggest fan of the ABC recently, accusing it of being unpatriotic for covering the Edward Snowden leaks and ongoing asylum seeker abuse claims.

“I think it dismays Australians when the national broadcaster appears to take everyone's side but its own and I think it is a problem,” he said in February.