Introduction to Chinese News Media.
The media network in China is believed to be the largest in the world. The Asian country also boasts of the world’s largest population that has access to the internet. However, there is no freedom for the Chinese media as it is completely controlled by the Communist Party. The media can only decide on advertising and distribution. Independent journalism that does not disturb social stability or the agenda of the Communist Party is allowed in China.
Press Freedom
According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), current Chinese leader President Xi Jinping acts as the “planet’s leading censor and press freedom predator”. The agency adds that the government policies help achieve “complete hegemony over news coverage and the creation of an international media order heavily influenced by China”.
Beijing, the capital of the country and from when the government operates, restricts rebroadcasting of foreign news in China and uses jammers to block shortwave broadcasts from media outlets like BBC. The government also blocks foreign websites that pose threat to the country or its leader. Foreign websites in the Chinese language are also not allowed to access in mainland China. Although English language websites of media like BBC can be accessed, their content is filtered by the Communist Party to avoid tension.
Media in Hong Kong
Since 1997 when China took control of Hong Kong, the editorially-dynamic media of the region has been in constant threat of interference from the Communist Party.
Electronic Media
Over 3,300 local and national television channels operate in China. Chinese Central TV (CCTV) is owned by the government and dominates the cable based pay TV market. The country also has more than 2,600 radio stations, all of which are owned by the government.
Print Media
More than 1,900 newspapers publish in China. Local administrations publish city editions besides a local Communist Party daily newspaper for each city. The government doesn’t hesitate in spending on television, newspaper, radio and online reports that target international audiences to improve its image. However, it does not allow foreign media to enter the domestic Chinese media market.
Chinese newspapers and news websites’ list
We have compiled a list of top newspapers and websites that are quite popular among the Chinese readers within the nation and its neighbouring countries.
Part I: Newspapers
In the first part of the article, we have shared a list of the prominent newspapers of China with their details.
Global Times
Global Times is a daily newspaper in China. It is published in tabloid format. It operates with the support of People’s Daily newspaper, a flagship of the Chinese Communist Party. Global Times keeps a nationalistic approach while commenting on an international issue. The daily has often been accused of spreading propaganda. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the newspaper propagated conspiracy theories and unverified information.
Origin
Global Times was founded in 1993 as a Chinese language weekly publication. Its English version was established on April 20, 2009. Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of Global Times (both Chinese and English versions) predicted that the English language edition will make a loss of 20 million yuan in 2009 (the year it was launched).
The English edition launched two local sections, namely- Metro Beijing in September 2009 and Metro Shanghai in April 2010. The US edition of The Global Times was launched in 2013. As compared to Global Times’ Chinese language edition, its English version is said to have a less nationalistic approach.
Websites
Global Times also has websites in both the languages. Its Chinese language portal ‘www.huanqiu.com’ was launched in November 2007. The news portal claims that it is the preferred source of news for “embassies and consulates as well as foreign government agencies in China”.
Global Times | ???? Android App
Guangming Daily
Guangming Daily is a national daily published in the Chinese language in the People’s Republic of China. Launched on June 16, 1949, in Beijing, it was the official newspaper of the China Democratic League. Later, the daily went on to become the official organ for the Chinese Communist Party.
Guangming Daily played an important part in the political conflict between Hua Guofeng and the Gang of Four in 1976 and between Hua and Deng Xiaoping in 1978. During the Cultural Revolution between 1966 and 1976, the newspaper was among the only three dailies besides People’s Daily and the People’s Liberation Army Daily that remained in circulation.
Circulation
In 1987, the circulation of Guangming Daily was 1.5 million. However, as independent publications started mushrooming, its circulation plummeted to 800000 in 1993. For survival in the market, Guangming Daily shifted its focus to culture and science coverage. In 2013, its daily circulation was 490,000.
Website
Guangming Daily also has a news website that was launched in 1998. The portal is one of the first few news websites in China. In 2003, Guangming Daily, in partnership with Nanfang Media Group, launched The Beijing News. The publication quickly became one of the most sought-after newspapers in Beijing.
Guangming Daily | ???? Android App
Guangming Daily | ???? iOS App
China Daily
China Daily is a daily newspaper in China. Published in the English language, the daily newspaper is managed by the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party. Headquartered in Beijing, it is published in broadsheet format. China Daily was launched on June 1, 1981, after undergoing a month’s trial.
Origin
China Daily is the first English language national newspaper after People’s Republic was established in 1949. In the beginning, the newspaper struggled to find journalists who can speak and write in English. China Daily is the only English language newspaper in the country with a wide print circulation. The newspaper has its branch across major cities in China besides foreign cities such as Kathmandu, London, New York City and Washington, D.C. China Daily gets published by satellite offices in Europe, Hong Kong and the United States. The newspaper also has an insert sponsored content known as “China Watch” that gets distributed along with prominent newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The New York Times.
Political Alignment
As far as ideology is concerned, China Daily’s approach is similar to that of People’s Daily. As per its 2014 annual report, the newspaper is managed by State Council Information Office (SCIO), established by the Publicity Department in 1991.
Circulation
Initially, the circulation of the newspaper was 22,000 that increased to 65,000 the next year.
China Daily | ???? Android App
China Military Online
China Military Online describes itself as a ‘comprehensive military news website’. The portal is sponsored by the People’s Liberation Army News Agency. Approved by the Central Military Commission, it is the only official website of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. China Military Online is headquartered in Xicheng District of Beijing. Earlier, the portal was known as the online edition of People’s Liberation Army Daily. It got its current name on October 1, 2004. The People’s Liberation Army Daily established on January 1, 1956, is the official newspaper of the Chinese Armed Forces.
Origin And History
China Military Online is available in both English and Chinese languages. The Chinese edition was launched on October 1, 1999, whereas the English website was launched on March 5, 2003. The updated new version of the Chinese language edition was launched on January 1, 2014. The domain name was also changed at the same time. In the About Us section on the website, the portal states that it aims to portray “Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s style, reflect the aspirations of officers and soldiers, expand information channels, and gain insights into the global military situation”.
Categories
Military Intelligence, Military Exercises, National Defense and Military Fans among others are some of the major sections on the Chinese language website. The English edition has categories such as Armed Forces, Opinions, Voices, World, Media, Int’l Reports and many more.
China Military Online | ???? Online
Shenzhen News Daily
Shenzhen Daily is a daily newspaper published in compact format in China. The English language newspaper is headquartered in Shenzhen, in southeastern China. Its first issue appeared on July 1, 1997. Owned and published by Shenzhen Press Group, it is the first and now the only English language local newspaper in the southern Chinese mainland. Shenzen Daily is also one of the three English newspapers on the Chinese mainland. It is also distributed in Hong Kong and Pearl River Delta. With 12 to 16 pages, the newspaper is published from Monday to Friday.
Website
Shenzhen Daily also has a news website. The Chinese language portal describes itself as the “only major news website in Shenzhen”. Headed by the Propaganda Department of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee and Propaganda Department of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, it is approved by the Information Office of the State Council. The news website is sponsored by the Shenzhen Press Group.
People’s Daily
People’s Daily is a daily newspaper headquartered in Beijing. It is the mouthpiece of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. It was established on June 15, 1948, in Lizhuang, Pingshan County, Hebei Province. The newspaper was born with the merger of “Jin Cha Ji Daily” and Jin Ji Lu Yu “People’s Daily”.
History
The decision to make People’s Daily the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was taken on August 1, 1949. During the Cultural Revolution, the editorial of People’s Daily was considered as a statement of the government. There has been a decrease in government subsidies for People’s Daily since the mid-1990s. In the About Us section on its website, it boasts that on January 1, 2017, the circulation of People’s Daily was 3.18 million copies. Back in 1992, UNESCO named it among the top 10 newspapers in the world, it also stated.
Editions And Websites
Besides its overseas and Tibetan editions, there are 30 other newspapers linked to People’s Daily. Besides the Chinese language, People’s Daily has French, Russian, Arabic, Tibetan, Japanese, Portuguese, Zhuang, Mongolian, Spanish, Kazakh and English editions. People’s Daily also has websites in both Mandarin Chinese and English languages. The online edition was started in 1997.
Nanfang Daily
Nanfang Daily is a daily newspaper published in Guangzhou, a port city in China. It is the official newspaper of the Guangdong provincial committee of the Chinese Communist Party. The first issue of Nanfang Daily appeared on October 23, 1949. In the About Us section of its website, it states that Nanfang Daily got the third position in the list of top 100 newspapers in 2017. It further boasts that in 2018, the newspaper ranked third among national media organizations, with a total brand value of 93.371 billion yuan.
Ownership And Ideology
Published in the Chinese language, Nanfang Daily is a part of Nanfang Media Group. The group claims to own 20 websites, six newspapers, ten periodicals and 370 social media accounts. Southern Weekly, Southern Metropolis Daily, Southern People Weekly and 21st Century Business Herald are some of the popular newspapers and periodicals of the group. As far as ideology is concerned, it clearly mentions “Nanfang News Media Group is guided by Xi Jinping’s new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics”
Website
Nanfang Daily also has a news website to complement its print edition. It publishes stories in the Chinese language. The portal covers news stories of various genres such as education, finance and international among others.
Beijing News
Beijing News is a daily newspaper published in the tabloid format in China. Headquartered in Beijing, the daily describes itself as a “comprehensive large-scale urban daily newspaper”. Beijing News is co-sponsored by two important newspaper groups- Guangming Daily Press and Nanfang Media Group. Both the organisations are managed and owned by the sub-committees of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Origin And History
The first issue of Beijing News was published on November 11, 2003. Initially, staff members of Nanfang Media Group managed the day-to-day functioning of the newspaper. Beijing News was taken over by the Publicity Department of the Beijing municipal committee of the Chinese Communist Party on September 1, 2011. The newspaper states that the average daily publication of the newspaper is of 88 pages. On Friday, it increases to 112 pages. In 2018, Beijing Morning Post and a news website- qianlong.com was merged with Beijing News.
Controversies
In 2005, the staff of Beijing News objected the sacking of the newspaper’s editors. In July 2011, it defied reporting ban on Wenzhou train collision. In the same month, the daily scrapped special report of nine pages. In 2013, reports surfaced that publisher of the newspaper Dai Zigeng verbally resigned because of the pressure from propaganda department.
Guangzhou Daily
Guangzhou Daily also known as Guangzhou Ribao or Canton Daily is a daily newspaper published in China. Its first issue appeared on December 1, 1952. Guangzhou Daily is the mouthpiece of Guangzhou Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China. It is owned by Guangzhou Daily Newspaper Group. China Business News and South Reviews are the sister publications of Guangzhou Daily.
Circulation
The newspaper has shut down its operations three times. The last time it resumed operations was on February 26, 1972. Back then, it began functioning as Guangzhou Post. According to China.org.cn, Guangzhou Daily has the circulation of 1.85 million copies daily. The masthead of Guangzhou Daily is written by Mao Zedong.
Yangtse Evening News
Yangtse Evening News, also known as Yangtse Evening Post or Yangtze Evening Post is a daily newspaper based in China. It is headquartered in Nanjing, the capital of China’s eastern Jiangsu province. The newspaper is affiliated with Xinhua News Agency. It is published in the Chinese language.
Origin
The first issue of Yangtse Evening News appeared on January 1, 1986. The newspaper was established by Xinhua Daily, which is an official newspaper of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. The publisher of Yangtse Evening News is Yangtse Evening Post Agency
Website
Yangtse Evening News also has a news website besides print version. The portal functions in the Chinese language. To cater to the interest of its readers, the website has segregated its news stories into different sections such as Entertainment, Technology, Style and Real Estate among others.
The Economic Observer
The Economic Observer is a weekly newspaper in China. Focussed on economics, it was established in August 2000 as a small news publication. However, the first issue appeared in April 2001. Lu Zhiqiang, a real estate billionaire, is the owner of The Economic Observer. The newspaper is printed on a peach-coloured paper. Though it is registered in Jinan, the capital of Shandong province, Beijing is the headquarters of The Economic Observer.
Website
In March 2007, the newspaper was relaunched, making it accessible only through subscription. However, most of the content from newspaper can also be read at their website without any charge. Besides a portal in the Chinese language, The Economic Observer also has English language edition.
China Economic Times
China Economic Times is a Chinese language newspaper published in China. The newspaper is also known as Zhongguo Jingji shibao. It mainly covers news related to economy. Sponsored by the Development Research Center of the State Council, the first issue of China Economic Times appeared on November 1, 1994.
Controversy
In October 2007, an investigate reporter of the newspaper, Pang Jiaoming, was asked to be sacked by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CCPPD) for his report on railway infrastructure. He later changed his name and joined the in-depth news department of the Southern Metropolis Daily.
Xinmin Evening News
Xinmin Evening News is a Chinese language newspaper published in China. According to Wikipedia, the newspaper was earlier known as Xinmin Po. The first issue of Xinmin Evening News appeared in September 1929 in Shanghai, China. The newspaper is owned by Shanghai United Media Group.
The daily was shut down in the 1940s and also during the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976. Xinmin Evening News was re-launched in 1982. In 1996, it was the first evening newspaper to set up an office in California for the American edition. In October 2020, Xinmin Evening News was designated as a “foreign mission” of China by the United States Department of State.
Xinhua Daily
Xinhua Daily, owned by the Jiangsu Committee of the Communist Party of China, was the first public newspaper by the Communist Party of China in the country. Its first issue appeared on November 1, 1938 in Wuhan. Xinhua Daily was established by revolutionaries like Zhou Enlai.
The newspaper was once shut down by Kuomintang before it resumed operations on April 23, 1949. The daily basically covers social, political and economic news in Jiangsu province. Yangzi Evening News, Village Cadre, Nanjing Morning News, Jiangsu Economic News and Jiangsu Legal News are other news publications owned by the same group.
Liberation Daily
Jiefang Daily or Liberation Daily (when translated into English) is a daily newspaper published in the broadsheet format in China. It is the official newspaper of the Shanghai Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.
The first issue of Jiefang Daily appeared on May 28, 1949 in Shanghai. Published in the Chinese language, it has its headquarters at Jing’an District in Shanghai. In October 2020, Jiefang Daily was referred to as a “foreign mission” of China by the United States Department of State.
History
Jiefang Daily is published by the Shanghai Municipal Government and primarily covers East China. The newspaper began publication after the People’s Liberation Army took over Shanghai from the Kuomintang government. Former party newspaper of the central government published in Yan’an in northern Shaanxi Province was also known as Jiefang Daily.
IDG
The U.S. born IDG (Beijing) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese investment company China Oceanwide Holdings Group. IDG launched Computerworld in 1967, which ceased publication and became digital in 2014. China Computer World or China Computer World Publishing Service Company (CCW Media Group) is a joint venture by the National Industrial Information Security Development Research Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the International Data Group (IDG).
Sister Publications
IDG has also published Microcomputer World magazine (1985), Network World newspaper (1984), Computer Enthusiast magazine (1993), IT Manager World magazine (1998), Home Computer World Magazine (1999), Digital Fortune magazine (2001) and New Financial World magazine (2002).
The website of China Computer World has different categories such as cloud computing, industry digitization, IT terminal and many more.
Yangcheng Evening News
Yangcheng Evening News, which is also known as Ram City Evening News or Yangcheng Evening Post is a Chinese language newspaper that is published from Guangzhou.
History
The first edition of Yangcheng Evening News was published on October 1, 1957. During the Cultural Revolution, the newspaper had to shut its publication before resuming on February 15, 1980. Since May 18, 1998, Yangcheng Evening News is published by the Yangcheng Evening News Group that owns several other Chinese newspapers.
Circulation
In 2008, the average daily circulation of Yangcheng Evening News was estimated at 1,170,000. At that time, the newspaper was mainly distributed in the Pearl River Delta area of South China.
Wen Wei Po
Wen Wei Po is a Chinese newspaper based in Hong Kong. Headquartered in Aberdeen, the first issue of the newspaper appeared on September 9, 1948. Its Shanghai edition was launched in the year 1938. Wen Wei Po is published in the broadsheet format. The pro-Beijing government newspaper is owned by Ta Kung Wen Wei Media Group, which is managed and controlled by Liaison Office of the Chinese government.
Readership
Reportedly, the readership of Wen Wei Po comprises less than 1 percent in Hong Kong. It is mostly read by older Hong Kong readers and in mainland China. Wen Wei Po also has a news website. It is present on the social media platform Facebook.
Reference News
Reference News is a Chinese language newspaper published in China. Established on November 7, 1931, it is published by Xinhua News Agency. Before the 1980s, Reference News was the only official medium for the readers in China through which they can know about the outside world. The newspaper is also published in various other languages such as Korean, Kazakh, Uyghur and Mongolian for the ethnic minority groups in the country.
Website
The circulation of Reference News was 11 million in 1980. However, it dropped to four million in 1985. Reference News also has a news website besides a print edition. The portal has categories such as International, Military, Finance and China among others.
Shanghai Daily
Shanghai Daily is a newspaper published in English language in China. The first issue of the newspaper appeared on October 1, 1999. Owned by Shanghai United Media Group, which is controlled by the Shanghai Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Shanghai Daily claims to be the ”first local English language daily newspaper on the Chinese mainland”.
Readership And Digital Media
Shanghai Daily is the only English language daily in Mainland China to be published on all days. The daily claims to be an important source of information for English readers in Yangtze River Delta Region and Shanghai. The main readers of Shanghai Daily are foreigners, tourists, expats living in Shanghai, overseas investors, students learning English and local white-collar workers who are fluent in the language. Shanghai Daily rebranded itself on August 1, 2017, and ventured into digital media with its website- ‘SHINE’. It is also present on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
Part II: Regional newspapers
In the second part of the article, we have described the most prominent regional newspapers of China.
Dazhong Daily
Dazhong Daily is a regional newspaper in Shandong, an eastern Chinese province. Published in the Chinese language, the first issue of the daily was founded on January 1, 1939. “It is currently the newspaper with the longest consecutive publication time and the largest number of cumulative publications in mainland China,” Dazhong Daily claims in the About Us section of its website. The newspaper was established as a mouthpiece of the Shandong Branch of the CPC Central Committee. Later, Dazhong Daily became the official newspaper of the East China Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
The Group
On September 28, 2000, Dazhong Newspaper Group was formally established. The group now runs 18 newspapers that include Dazhong Daily, Qilu Evening News, and Peninsula Metropolis Daily and five magazines such as Young Journalists and Jin Reference besides a news website. The main three publication of the group are Dazhong Daily, Qilu Evening News, and Peninsula Metropolis Daily. In 2013, the total asset of the group was 6.559 billion Yuan and total revenue was 2.24 billion Yuan.
Website
Dazhong Daily also has a website to complement its print edition. To cater to the interest of its readers, the website has segregated its news stories into different sections such as Health, Tourism, Shandong, Sports, Finance, Entertainment and Culture among others.
Dazhong Daily English
Besides Chinese, Japanese and Korean editions, Dazhong Daily also has a news website in the English language. For the convenience of its readers, the portal has categorised the news stories into several sections such as Shandong, News, Travel, Culture, Lifestyle, Business and Opinion among others.
World Journal
World Journal is a Chinese language Taiwanese newspaper published in North America. The broadsheet daily is the biggest Chinese language newspaper published in The United States. World Journal is one of the largest Chinese language newspapers published outside China. Headquartered in New York City since 1980, the target audience of World Journal includes Chinese readers in New York, Dallas, Houston, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.
Origin
First published on February 12, 1976, it is owned by United Daily News. Founded by Wang Tiwu, the first publication was launched in San Francisco and New York. It describes its aim as “serving the Chinese in North America and promoting Chinese culture”. On January 1, 2016, the newspaper shut down its publication in Canada to focus on the United States
Political Inclination
Until the mid-1990s, World Journal was seen as a publication hostile to China. This is because it referred to people from China as “Communist Chinese”. However, its political inclination seems to have changed now. As per Jamestown Foundation report in 2001, World Journal is among the four major Chinese language newspapers in the US that “has recently begun bowing to pressure from the Beijing government.”
World Journal also has a news website. It has sections like United States, Los Angeles, China, Taiwan, International, Health, Finance and Entertainment among others. World Journal has account on Facebook as well.
China Business News
China Business News is a business daily published in the Chinese language. Its first issue was published in the year 2003. Headquartered in Shanghai, China Business News has branches in Shenzhen, Beijing and Guangzhou. It is affiliated to Shanghai Culture, Broadcasting, Film and Television Group Co., Ltd. (SMG).
Services And Content
“It produces and publishes more than 2,000 financial information, videos, data reports and in-depth analysis reports every day, continuously broadcasts information on China and global trading markets, and conducts live broadcasts of major financial events,” China Business News states in the About Us section on its website.
China Business News also offers services like forum meetings, investor education, market and industry research and media advertising planning and dissemination besides creative design for enterprises.
Evening news
Qianjiang Evening News is an evening newspaper owned by Zhejiang News Media Holding Group Co., Ltd. It is a Chinese language newspaper based in China. As far as Zhejiang News Media Holding Group Co., Ltd is concerned, it has its headquarters in Xiacheng District, Hangzhou, the capital of China’s Zhejiang province. It claims to be one of the largest publishing groups in China and has business comprising television, radio, websites, mobile apps and newspapers industries.
Established as Zhejiang Daily Newspaper Group on June 25, 2000, it was renamed Zhejiang News Media Holding Group Co., Ltd in 2009. The group publishes 16 media outlets that include Zhejiang Daily, Zhejiang Online and Qianjiang Evening News among others.
Dahe
Dahe Daily is a regional newspaper published in the Chinese language. It is headquartered in Zhengzhou, the capital of east-central China’s Henan province. The first issue of Dahe Daily appeared on August 1, 1995. It is owned by Henan Daily Newspaper Group. In 2003, the daily circulation of the newspaper was 600,000, and it rancked 16th in China. In 2006, the circulation of the daily reached one million.
Website
Dahe Daily also has a website. To cater to the interest of its readers, the news portal has segregated the articles and reports into sections such as About Henan, Local, National, Tourism, Culture besides Daily Updates on COVID-19 in Henan.
Xinhua news
Xinhua news is an English news website by Xinhua News Agency, which is the government-run press agency of China. For the convenience of its readers, the website of Xinhua news has segregated its news stories into different sections such as China, Business, Culture, World and Sports among others. It also offers separate editions for Asia & Pacific, Europe, Africa, North America, Deutsch and many more.
Huaxia
Huaxia is a Chinese language news website based in China. It was launched on April 29, 2001, in Beijing, the capital of China. For ease of reading, the news portal has categorized the reports and articles into sections such as Political, Tourism, Food, Technology and many more. Huaxia describes itself “as a leading online media dedicated to serving compatriots on both sides of the Straits, Hong Kong and Macao, and the global Chinese community, and people and institutions concerned about national unification” on the website.
Sichuan Ribao
Sichuan Daily or Sichuan Ribao is a Chinese language newspaper. Published on a daily basis, it is based in Chengdu, the capital of southwestern China’s Sichuan province. As per 2012 data, Sichuan Ribao had a circulation of 8,000,000. Sichuan Ribao also has a news portal. In the description, it mentions that the website “focuses on political and economic news, comprehensively collecting and displaying news on the government affairs, economic construction, and social and cultural construction of the party and government”.
Hainan Daily
Hainan Daily is a daily newspaper published in the Chinese language. Headquartered in Haikou, the capital of China’s island province Hainan, the first issue of the newspaper appeared on May 7, 1950. Initially, it served as a mouthpiece of the Hainan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China. Earlier, it was known as New Hainan Post. The newspaper got its current name in 1958.
In July 2004, Hainan Daily was privatised. It became a part of the Hainan Daily Press Group. Hainan Daily also has a website with different categories such as Tourism, Real Estate, Finance and many more. The website launched on January 1, 1999, is managed by the Propaganda Department of the Hainan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Office of the Cyber Security and Informatization Committee of the Hainan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China.
Nanguo Metropolis Daily
Nanguo Metropolis Daily is a Chinese language sub-paper of Hainan Daily. Published on a daily basis, it is headquartered in Haikou. Nanguo Metropolis Daily is also known as South China Metropolitan Daily or South China Metropolis Daily.
The newspaper is the first metropolis newspaper in Hainan, an island province in China. Nanguo Metropolis Daily was launched on January 1, 2001. According to Wikipedia, it ranked in the top ten most innovative metropolitan newspapers in China in 2009.
Nanguo Metropolis Daily Online
Qingdao News
Qingdao News is a Chinese language news website. It is headquartered in Qingdao, a city in the eastern Shandong province. The website was launched in the year 1998. Qingdao News is one of the major six news websites approved by the Information Office of the State Council in Shandong province.
For the convenience of its readers, Qingdao News has categorised articles and reports into different sections such as Community, Entertainment, Real Estate, Food, Tourism, Education, Health and Car among others.
CN3X
CN3X is a Chinese language newspaper based in China. It also has a news website. To cater to the interest of its readers, the portal has segregated the news and articles into several genres such as finance, health, politics and international among others.
Chengdu Business Daily
Chengdu Business Daily is a Chinese language newspaper. It has its headquarters in Chengdu, the capital of southwestern China’s Sichuan province. Chengdu Business Daily basically covers news related to economy, finance and business. Besides the print edition, it also has a news portal.
SYD
Shenyang Net is a Chinese language news portal owned by Shenyang Daily News Group. It has its headquarters in Shenhe District in Shenyang. The website is managed by the Propaganda Department of the Shenyang Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China. Shenyang Net claims to be the only news website in Shenyang, the capital of China’s northeast Liaoning Province that has been authorised to publish news.
Origin
The predecessor of Shenyang Net known as Northern Hotline was launched in 1998. In 2000, the portal was approved by the Information Office of the State Council as the first news website in northeast China. The website got its current name Shenyang Net in 2006. The portal has different categories such as News, Finance, Real Estate, Car, Tourism and Entertainment among others.
Part III: News websites
In the third part of the article, we have described the most prominent news websites of China.
Hexun
Hexun is a Chinese language news website that is owned and operated by Hexun Finance for the last “24 years”. The news website is known for the coverage of business news in China. According to its About Us section, the Hexun website provides “global 7×24-hour financial information, real-time push foreign exchange, futures, A-shares, crude oil, precious metals, gold, U.S. stocks, Hong Kong stocks and other financial news and quotes, to help investors trade faster and more accurately”.
Coverage
Current events, Stock, Blockchain, Hong Kong stocks, Science and Technology, Fund, Venture, Capital, Financial management, Trust, P2P Technology, Bond, Mutual, Gold, Crude, Insurance, Bank, Foreign exchange, Real estate and Car are among the sections of news on the Hexun website.
The Chinese website provides a chat option to its users with the help of WeChat messaging app.
History
Hexun was established in 1996. In 2016, Hexun Finance partnered with Internet-related services company Baidu to start a financial information Website. Hexun provided the joint venture with services like news reporting and licenses related to securities consulting. The Hexun-Baidu platform can be used to read financial and economic news. The information provided on the website helps users deal with issues related to market statistics and personal wealth management.
Financial Times
Financial Times, the popular British business daily newspaper, has a website in the Chinese language as well. The FT Group’s sole Chinese finance website claims that it was “designed to provide business and financial news, in-depth analysis and commentary that are essential daily for Chinese businesses and policy makers”.
The Chinese website uses the “extensive global reporting resources” of Financial Times to provide the in-depth analysis of China’s business and economy. In the About Us section of the website, FT Chinese calls itself a “must-read” for senior Chinese executives. The reports published by FT Chinese try to present an international perspective.
Readership
FT Chinese claims to serve over 2.9 million registered users with its website and mobile application for android, iOS and Windows users. The Chinese business website also launched a paid subscription service in April 2018, to offer selected information as well as personalized services to the “exclusive members” of FT Chinese.
Coverage
For the convenience of its readers, FT Chinese publishes news stories in sections like Special report, Standard subscription, Premium subscription, Popular articles, Conference, Marketing activity, FT Business School, FT ebook, Career opportunities, Data news, FT Research Institute, FT Mall, High-end property, China, Global, Economic, Financial market, Business, Innovation economy, Education and Management among others.
China Byte
China Byte, which is popularly known as Bitnet, is a Chinese language news website that claims to be the country’s “first IT Internet media”. The news website was launched in 1997 with a mission to “make technology a way of life”.
“China Byte leads the technology industry, focusing on technological innovation in the industrial Internet and digital age, creating the value of content and services. Connecting C-Level, IT-manager and other enterprise users, the China Byte CIO Club has been established for nearly 9 years and has 20,000 CIO members,” the news website says in its About Us section.
Coverage
For the convenience of its readers, China Byte segregates news stories in sections like Enterprise Computing storage, Network and security, Corporate Services, Cloud computing, Artificial intelligence, IoT 5G, Digital transformation, New infrastructure and Corporate club among others.
The website is owned by famous Tianji Media Group (TMG), which owns other Chinese media outlets like Yesky, Electric Knower, Tianji Entertainment and Shanghai Xiaosho.
CNR
CNR is a Chinese language news website with news sections like Important news, Financial, Military, Culture, Education, Technology, Tourism, Real estate, Health, Public welfare and Local ethnic among others.
China.org
China.org.cn is the official English language website of the China Internet Information Center. Owned by the People’s Republic of China, China.org.cn publishes news content under the guidance of the China International Publishing Group and State Council Information Office.
The editor-in-chief of China.org.cn is Wang Xiaohui (2021). Xiaohui also acts as a vice minister of the Publicity Department within the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
Coverage
China, World, Business, Arts, Sports, Travel, Opinion and Photos are among the sections of news on China.org.cn, which is also available in languages like Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, French and Russian.
21CN
21CN is a Chinese language news website. The portal was launched in February 1999. It is owned by Century Dragon Information Network Co., Ltd, established in December 1999. Century Dragon is a state-owned enterprise and wholly-owned subsidiary of China Telecom Corporation. Headquartered in Tianhe District, Guangzhou, China, it has branches in Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai. To cater to the interest of its readers, the portal has segregated the news stories into several sections such as News, Entertainment, Technology and Car among others.
CQNEWS
CQNEWS is an English language news website in China. It was launched on December 20, 2000. Headquartered in Chongqing, a municipality in southwest China, it was approved by the State Council Information Office. In 2009, Chongqing Daily News Group, Chongqing Broadcasting Group and Chongqing State-owned Cultural Assets Management Co., Ltd merged CQNEWS with CBN.cn. This was done under the direction of the Publicity Department of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee.
Content
CQNEWS claims to upload more than 6,000 news articles and reports every day, out of which 90 news stories are original. It also offers seven digital newspapers such as Chongqing Daily, Chongqing Morning Post, Chongqing Evening News, and Chongqing Commercial Daily, among others. CQNEWS has sections like Culture, Tourism, Food, Transport, Entertainment and many more.
Star Online
Star Online is a Chinese language news website based in China. It is headquartered in Changsha, the capital of central China’s Hunan province.
Titan24
Titan24 is a Chinese language sports website. It has sections such as International Football, Chinese Football, NBA and Chinese Basketball among others. Titan24 is the digital version of the newspaper Titan Sports.
It is a semi-weekly sports newspaper published in the Chinese language. Established in 1988, it is the most widely-circulated sports newspaper in China, states Wikipedia. Headquartered in Changsha and Beijing, Titan Sports is owned and managed by Hunan Sports General Association.
History
On December 3, 1990, Titan Sports became the first Chinese newspaper to cover European football with its column “European Leagues Round-up”. In May 1992, the newspaper covered NBA Finals for the first time. In 1994, Titan Sports started covering Chinese domestic league, Jia A.
Circulation And Network
Titan Sports has become the first sports newspaper in China to partner with popular overseas sports media outlets such as Sovetsky Sport, La Gazzetta dello Sport, L’Équipe, Kicker and Marca. The circulation of the newspaper crossed 2 million per issue during the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics.
Xinhua News Agency
Xinhua News Agency is a government-run press agency in China. It is the biggest news agency in the world in terms of the worldwide network of correspondents, wrote Wikipedia quoting 4imn.com’s ranking. With more than 170 overseas bureaus and 31 bureaus in China, Xinhua is a major medium for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for news dissemination. The headquarters of Xinhua News Agency in Beijing is strategically located near Central government’s headquarters at Zhongnanhai. It is highest-ranking state media in the country besides the newspaper People’s Daily.
Origin
Red China News Agency is the predecessor to Xinhua. Established in November 1931, the agency usually republished news from its rival Central News Agency (CNA) for army officers and party. It got renamed to Xinhua in November 1935. The letterpress printing was brought into use in 1940 by the agency.
Publisher
Xinhua is not just a news agency but also a publisher. It owns a dozen magazines and more than 20 newspapers. Xinhua has 31 local channels in multiple languages including English, Russian, German, Portuguese, French, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Tibetan, Uighur and Mongolian among others.
Ranking
In the About Us section of its website, Xinhua claims that as per Alexa rankings, Xinhuanet grabbed 70th position among more than 700 million news portals in the world. It states that that the website ranked better than news agencies like The Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse.
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China News Service (CNS)
China News Service is the national news agency of China. Established on October 1, 1952, the main work of China News Service is reporting international news. The target audiences of the news agency are overseas Chinese, Hong Kong and Macao compatriots as well as Taiwan compatriots. It was earlier operated by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, which got included into the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party in 2018.
Origin
The agency was founded by Liao Chengzhi. Jin Zhonghua served as the first president. The origin of China News Service can be traced back to 1938. Back then, it was an international news agency established by Fan Changjiang and Hu Yuzhi in Guilin.
Network
China News Service claims to cover more than 100 countries in five continents. The agency ventured into digital media in 1995 when it went online at the Hong Kong branch. China News Agency edits and publishes newspapers such as China News Weekly, China News, World Chinese Media Yearbook and Chinese Philanthropist among others. It also publishes nine magazines in seven foreign languages.
Controversy
As per the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, China News Service spread false information and propaganda during the 2019-20 Hong Kong protests. In an investigation by ProPublica, it was found that the agency hired a third-party to create fake Twitter accounts in order to spread misinformation about Covid-19 pandemic. In June 2020, China News Service was one of the state media outlets that was referred to as a “foreign mission” of China by the United States Department of State.
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Conclusion
Earlier being the largest market of conventional media, China now leads the online media markets across the globe. According to the China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC), as many as 829 million Chinese population had access to the internet by February 2019. Almost 26.7 percent online population of China belongs to rural areas. Over 98.6 percent people access news websites on their smartphones, claims the CNNIC.
“BAT” Media
Three portals that dominate the online media market in China include search engine Baidu, e-commerce company Alibaba and instant messenger WeChat. While Alibaba owns and operates Weibo microblog platform in association with Sina, WeChat is fully owned by Tencent.
Online Media Freedom
Even the online media faces censorship at times in China. Weibo, which was created with an idea to share uncensored news, has lost its appeal to the Chinese citizens because of the tight censorship rules. A system known as the Great Firewall of China helps the administration filter out thousands of sites on the basis of keyword censoring. In 2015, China introduced the Great Fire Cannon that intercepts data traffic even if someone uses virtual private networks (VPNs) to access the Chinese websites.
World’s social media giants like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are blocked in China, while the country’s cyber police keep a close watch on the internet to block the socially and politically sensitive content. Since 2015, unapproved VPNs are banned in China.
Prominent Media
China’s own WhatsApp-like messenger, WeChat, enjoys the largest number of users from the country in comparison to any other social media service. Streaming platforms like iQiyi, Sohu and Youku Tudou pose challenge to the conventional TV channels in China.
While the propelling industry knows no bounds, we at MediaBuzz are working hard to provide encyclopedic coverage of all the news sources. We are a team of professional writers with a knack for the trends in the world of journalism.
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