China: newspaper sales flourish

飞雪寒冰

In stark contrast to developed economies, where the printing of words on dead wood is a sunset industry and print journalists are a dying breed, the Chinese newspaper industry is in rude health.
在发达经济体，平面媒体已是夕阳产业，报刊记者成为一个没落的职业；但与之形成鲜明对比的是，中国的报业却极富活力。

Total newspaper circulation in China in 2010 was expected to rise 14 per cent from the year earlier to more than 50bn – the highest in the world – according to figures from the General Administration of Press and Publication. That contrasted with a slight decrease in newspaper circulation in Britain and a five per cent drop in the US between March 2010 and September 2010, the Chinese state media reported.
中国新闻出版总署(General Administration of Press and Publication)的数据显示，2010年，预计中国的报纸发行量将同比增长14%，达到逾500亿份，居全球之首。相比之下，据中国国有媒体报道，2010年3月至9月，英国的报纸发行量略有下降，美国的发行量则下降了5%。

飞雪寒冰

Strong growth in the domestic market is helping state-controlled publications expand overseas as part of an official Chinese Communist Party propaganda campaign to improve its image abroad and boost the country’s “soft power”.
国内市场的强劲增长，正帮助国有控股的出版物向海外扩张，这也是中国***官方宣传行动的内容之一，旨在改善中国的国际形象，并提升国家的“软实力”。

As part of that campaign the English-language government mouthpiece “China Daily” is now available on newsstands in the US and UK.
作为此项行动的一部分，英语版的政府喉舌《中国日报》如今已可在美国和英国的报摊上买到。

飞雪寒冰

But even as Chinese publications expand internationally, global newspaper owners cannot look to China for salvation.
但是，尽管中国的出版物正在进行国际扩张，全球报业业主们也不能指望中国来拯救自己的命运。

Under Chinese laws, all publications must be under the direct censorship control of the Party and all major editorial operations are supposed to be owned by one arm of the state or another.
按照中国法律，所有出版物都必须接受党的直接审查，所有主要编辑业务都应由某个政府部门拥有。

Thanks to Beijing’s paranoid censorship regime, the boom in quantity has not necessarily improved the quality of the Chinese press.
由于中国政府极其严苛的审查制度，中国媒体数量的繁荣并未提高其质量水平。

飞雪寒冰

Many publications are still supported by mandatory subscriptions and circulations to “work units”. Some are probably never read at all.
许多出版物仍然靠强制订阅和“单位”发行量支撑。有些出版物可能从来就没人阅读。

Rising circulations doesn’t mean life for Chinese reporters is getting any easier either.
发行量的上升，也并不意味着中国记者的日子更加好过。

The Committee to Protect Journalists said there were 10 more journalists in prison by the end of 2010 than at the end of the previous year, bringing the total to 34.
保护记者委员会(Committee to Protect Journalists)称，截至2010年末，在中国监狱服刑的记者比上年增加了10人，总数达到34人。

And those are just the ones they know about.
而这些还仅仅是该委员会知道的记者而已。