China Papers to Become Corporate Entities by End-2011

飞雪寒冰

China will restructure its newspapers and publications, most of which are state-owned or government-backed, into corporate entities before the end of 2011, the press regulator said recently.  

The governance structure will be improved and modern corporate mechanisms will be established so the institutions can engage as "real market participants," Liu Binjie, director of the General Administration of Press and Publication, said at a meeting in Beijing.

飞雪寒冰

The restructuring will not apply to "political" publications, most of which are run by the ruling Communist Party, he said.

At the end of 2008, China had 9,549 periodicals and 1,943 newspapers, according to figures from the GAPP.

In 2004, the business arm of Beijing Youth Daily became the first mainland media firm to launch an initial public offering in Hong Kong.