CHINESE NEWSPAPERS | Facts and Details

CHINESE NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES

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Newspaper and magazine kiosk China has the largest newspaper market in the world or at least it did a few years ago. According to Statista there were approximately 1,810 newspapers in China in 2020, compared to 1,937 newspapers printing 43.9 billion copies in 2009 and 2,000 newspaper 2006. About 1.47 billion newspapers were sold in China in March 2022. China printed 2,119 newspapers with a total average circulation of 190.7 million in 2003. Even more widely distributed were China’s 9,074 magazines, which in 2003 rose to an average circulation of 199 million copies and probably more since both newspapers and magazines typically are traded among multiple readers, and newspapers often are posted on community bulletin boards for passers-by. [Source: Statista; China.org, 2011; Library of Congress, August, 2006]

In 2011, roughly one in five newspapers printed worldwide were Chinese. Of the top 100 most-read daily newspapers ranked by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers in 2008, 26 were Chinese. According to China,org: Yet despite the industry's massive size, newspaper readership among the country's 1.4 billion people remains low compared with developed nations. In 2005, only 76.84 people per thousand read a daily newspaper, compared with 545 in Japan and 198 in the United States. [Source: Matt Velker, China.org.cn, October 31, 2011

In 2005, there were roughly 2,200 national and provincial newspapers, 40 newspapers for national minorities. and 9,000 magazines, By contrast there were only 186 newspapers in 1978. Technically all Chinese periodicals are produced by the Chinese government. All are required to have a government-affiliated sponsor. China’s Post Office is a major newsstand provider.

The Chinese government remains very active in regulating newspapers even though foreign investment in local news media was permissible by 2002. In 2004 the government banned subscription newspapers and periodicals. In 2003, the Chinese government stipulated that newspapers and magazines had to earn at least half of their revenue from voluntary subscriptions. In the months that followed, 673 publication that did not comply were shut down. After that newspapers and magazines had to effectively become financially independent. Many adopted a tabloid style to attract readers and advertisers. As newspapers have become independent and commercialized and reliant on advertising and subscription revenues they have also become more free and responsive to what people want to read. [Source: Library of Congress, August, 2006]

Sales has decreased in recent years primarily due to competition from online sources. Today, there are still many newspapers but with so many television and Internet sites where people get their news competition is fierce. Many newspapers have lost so many readers they have been forced to close.

Types of Chinese Newspapers

Ting Ni wrote in the World Press Encyclopedia: Chinese newspapers can be divided into several distinct categories. The first is the "jiguan bao" (organ papers). People's Daily and other provincial party newspapers are in this category. The second is the trade/professional newspapers, such as Wenhui Ribao (Wenhui Daily), Renmin Tiedaobao (People's Railroads), andZhongguo Shangbao (Chinese Business). The third is metropolitan organs (Dushibao), such as Beijing Qingnianbao (Beijing Youth Daily), Huaxi Dushibao (Western China Urban Daily), and other evening newspapers. [Source: Ting Ni, World Press Encyclopedia, Gale Group Inc., 2003]

The fourth is business publications, such as Chengdu Shang bao (Chengdu Business Daily) and Jingji Ribao (Economics Daily). The fifth is service papers; Shopping Guideand Better Commodity Shopping Guide are two examples. The sixth is digest papers, such as Wenzhaibao (News Digest), and finally, army papers: Jiefangjun Ribao (People's Liberation Army Dail) belongs to this category. Besides these types of formal newspapers, there are tabloids and weekend papers. The Chinese "jietou xiaobao" (small papers on the streets) are the equivalent of tabloids, which are synonymous with sensationalism in China. In addition to tabloids, major newspapers seeking a share of the human-interest market also created zhoumo ban (weekend editions).

About nine percent of China’s population belong to 56 ethnic minority groups. “Just as there are no privately owned newspapers in China, there is no minority-owned newspaper. The overwhelming majority of Chinese newspapers are published in the official Chinese language, Mandarin Chinese. But some government newspapers are published in minority languages, like Mongolian, Tibetan, and Uygur. Mongolian language newspapers are published in eight provinces and autonomous regions, including Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai, etc. Tibet Daily, Tibet Youth DailyTibet Legal DailyTibet TV Broadcast Daily, Tibet Technology Daily are published in Tibet, in addition to a Chinese version of each. Similarly, some newspapers published in Xinjiang are also published in Uygur and Kazak. There is even a Uygur version of Reference

The World Journal is a Chinese-language newspaper printed in the United States. It had 350,000 readers, more than the Detroit Free Press, Miami Herald and the Baltimore Sun, in the 2000s. Other Chinese newspapers in the United States include the Sing Tai Daily (circulation 250,000); Chinese Daily; and Workers Journal (circulation 200,000)

History of Chinese Newspapers

In 1987 China had two news agencies, the Xinhua (New China) News Agency and the China News Service (Zhongguo Xinwenshe). Xinhua was the major source of news and photographs for central and local newspapers. The party's newspapers Renmin Ribao (People's Daily) and Guangming Ribao (Enlightenment Daily), and the People's Liberation Army's Jiefangjun Bao (Liberation Army Daily) had the largest circulation. In addition to these major party and army organs, most professional and scientific organizations published newspapers or journals containing specialized information in fields as varied as astronomy and entomology. Local morning and evening newspapers concentrating on news and feature stories about local people and events were extremely popular, selling out each day shortly after they arrived at the newsstands. [Source: Library of Congress, July 1987]

Ting Ni wrote in the World Press Encyclopedia: “Between 1949 and 1990, almost all Chinese newspapers were distributed through the postal system. However, this changed when Luoyang Daily and Guangzhou Daily started their own distribution company in the late 1980s, followed by a host of other newspapers. As of the beginning of the twenty-first century, 800 newspapers among more than 2,000 distribute through their own networks. Others reach consumers through a variety of channels, such as post offices (both institutional and private subscription), street retail outlets, automatic newspaper dispensers, and occasionally, copies posted on public billboards. While institutional subscriptions provide newspapers to offices, street retail outlets are the major source of newspapers to private homes. In the office, reading free newspapers is considered legitimate political education as part of the job, but newspapers sold on the streets must compete not only among themselves but also with other commodities and for the urbanite's leisure time and cash. [Source: Ting Ni, World Press Encyclopedia, Gale Group Inc., 2003]

"The media expanded more rapidly after Mao's death than at any other time in Chinese history. As of October 1997, China had more than 27,000 newspapers and magazines. In 1981, Zhongguo Qingnianbao (China Youth News), the official organ of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Youth League, published its first weekend edition in an attempt to increase readership. The paper was an instant success. By the end of 1994, one-fourth of all newspapers had weekend editions. Weekend editions sell well because they are usually more interesting than their daily editions, with more critical and analytical pieces on pressing social issues, as well as various entertainment components.

"In January, 1996, the Press and Publication Administration approved the creation of China's first newspaper group, Guangzhou Daily Newspaper Group, the richest Chinese newspaper at the time. By 1998, it had increased to ten newspapers and one magazine with a circulation of 920,000. The advertising income reached 1.5 billion. Based on the successful operations of Guangzhou Daily Newspaper Group, Beijing approved two other newspaper conglomerates in Guangzhou in May of 1998: Nanfang Daily Newspaper Group and Yangcheng Evening Newspaper Group. Guangming Daily and Economic Daily are the first two newspapers in Beijing that formed newspaper conglomerates.

Newspaper data from the early 2000s
Number of Daily Newspapers: 816
Total Circulation: 50,000,000
Circulation per 1,000: 54
Number of Nondaily Newspapers: 1,344
Total Circulation: 138,000,000
Circulation per 1,000: 148
Total Newspaper Ad Receipts: 12,776 (Yuan Renminibi millions) As percent of All Ad Expenditures: 32.50 [Source: World Press Encyclopedia, Gale Group Inc., 2003]

Communist Party Newspapers in China

Up until recently the print media was dominated by “party newspapers” and “party magazines” — namely the ones listed below. Newspapers were propaganda vehicles of the Communist Party. They generally only had a few pages and no advertising. They contained harvest and factory reports; announcements about government policies; and long ponderous analysis about Socialist philosophy and Western decadence. Under Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms, which began in the late 1970s, government media transformed from party mouthpieces; into business conglomerates.

Editors and reporters were hired by and controlled by the government. The emphasis was not on selling newspapers and making money but rather on doing as the government ordered and avoiding mistakes. Circulation was guaranteed by a government that urged people to “study the party newspapers” and forced work units to buy them. For 30 years no media outlet ran a single advertisement.

Most of the major newspaper in China remain controlled by the government. Often its seems that their only duty is to reprint articles handed to them by the Propaganda department, who often spells out how articles should be laid out as well as what they contain. "They give us the material and we put it in," one editor told the New York Times.

Occasionally all of the major Communist newspapers have front pages that look almost exactly alike. This was the case on one day in August 2007 when editions of the People’s Daily, Guangdming Daily, People’s Liberation Army Daily and Beijing Daily announced the dates for 17th Communist Party Congress and had identical articles about efforts to rescue trapped miners and the same picture of Chinese President Hu Jintao meeting the President of Kazakhstan.

In recent years, state-owned Chinese newspapers have become worried about their declining influence. In 2012, the state-run Shaanxi Daily published a large front page article condemning China Unicom, the telecoms company, for cancelling its subscription. According to The Times the article cited a recent meeting at which all levels of government were called on to “”fulfil party newspaper and magazine distribution tasks 100 per cent”. [Source: Leo Lewis, The Times, January 12, 2012]

Major Chinese Communist Party Newspapers

Major Communist Party newspapers include the People’s Daily (See further down the page), Guangming Daily and Beijing Daily. People’s Liberation Army Daily (Jiefangjun Bao) played a leading role in the Cultural Revolution. The China Youth Daily is the official newspaper of the Communist Youth League. The Global Times has traditionally been a propagandist tabloid with stories about Japanese atrocities and American hegemony. The China Daily is official state-run English-language paper. It is printed mainly for a foreign audience and often covers delicate issues in China that receive little or no coverage in the Chinese-language media. Nanfang Dushi Bao is the most liberal of the Chinese dailies.

Beijing Youth News was one of the most influential newspapers among younger Chinese audiences in the 1980s, 90s and 2000s. Ting Ni wrote in the World Press Encyclopedia: It began on March 21, 1949, as an official organ of the Beijing Communist Youth League. The paper has been able to make the most of opportunities created by reform and commercialization. Since the early 1980s, it has implemented a series of successful management reforms, refused to accept any "back door" job placements, pioneered the system of recruiting staff through open competition, and eliminated lifetime tenure. From 1994 to 2001, it changed from a daily broadsheet with eight pages to a daily broadsheet with 46 pages, including 14 pages of business information. Its circulation reached 400,000 in 2001, and its advertising income concurrently skyrocketed to 640 million in the same year. In the 1990s, the newspaper grew from a small weekly into a conglomerate that publishes four papers and runs 12 businesses in a wide range of areas. [Source: Ting Ni, World Press Encyclopedia, Gale Group Inc., 2003]

The Global Times began as a Chinese-language tabloid known for vociferously defending Chinese interests, pushing hawkish views and covering controversial international affairs that cast the West inn a bad light. Founded in January 1993, it is part of the People’s Daily media group and had a circulation of 1.35 million in 2011. An English edition was created in April 2009 in part to compete with The China Daily, the country’s official English-language paper, which has recently added a version in Chinese and proven a financial success. Since 2009, the Global Times has been less of a government mouthpiece and more of a real newspaper. It investigated the grievances of parents whose children who in schools that collapsed in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. It also has written critically of China’s ties to North Korea and broached the subject of the Tianamnen Square crackdown.” The paper's websites features content from its Chinese and English editions. [Source: Jonathan Ansfield, New York Times, June 4 2009, China.org 2011]

Content of Chinese Communist Party Newspapers

In the Maoist era, newspapers ran stories about grain harvests, ball bearing factories and aging leaders and ignored major international stories. In 1969, the People's Daily mentioned nothing of the Apollo Moon landing because. One editor was quoted by the People's Almanac as saying, "In our view, there are a lot of more important things happening on earth." Typical newspaper stories run at time included "How to Transform Oneself into Believing in the Masses Instead of Oneself" and "Let's All Learn Revolutionary Theory and Get Rid of Experimentationism."

People at that time often said the that the only thing you can believe in People's Daily is the date. Many Chinese told the writer Paul Theroux, "you could regard nothing as true until it had been denied. Anything officially denied was probably a fact."

The Chinese have traditionally been very good at reading between the lines of articles in their newspapers to find out their real meaning. Great attention, for example, has been paid to who is and isn’t invited to important events, the order people stand in photographs and whether they are smiling or frowning, Deng Xiaoping return from political exile after the Cultural Revolution was expressed by the listing of his name on a guest list for a reception for Prince Sihanouk of Cambodia.

In the mid-1990s, the Chinese still prominently featured stories on model citizens and workers such as Li Suli, a bus conductor who arrived at work before punch in time to clean her bus, and Xu Hu, a plumber who unclogged sinks for free. Party newspapers still run these kinds of stories. "With China changing so rapidly in business and society," Seth Faison wrote in the New York Times, "it is striking how torpid and old-fashioned the news outlets remain...The more modern China becomes with each year, the more its official coverage of political events stands out for seeming to be stuck in another time."

These days the Communist Party newspapers are trying a little harder to be more topical and lively. The People’s Daily runs weird stories about people who have had their savings eaten by rats, a women who only walk backwards, factories that run “unpopular” contest to decide who to lay off, chickens that have been taught how to goose-step, myna birds that read poetry and the man on death row who was allowed to talk for 15 minutes with his parrot before he was put to death. Even so they have been steadily losing readers through the 1990s and 2000s. Circulation of the Liberation Daily fell from 910,000 in 1984 to 500,000 in 1997. The People’s Daily’s readership shrunk by 7 percent in 2000 from the previous year to 1.55 million.

Andrew Higgins wrote in the Washington Post, “The Chinese-language edition of the Global Times, a stridently nationalistic newspaper, features articles about America on nearly every page. Although mostly negative, they reflect an almost obsessive interest in the United States, which the paper paints as a spent force but also as the driving force behind turmoil in the Middle East and events elsewhere in the world.”

Chinese Newspaper in 2000

Ting Ni wrote in the World Press Encyclopedia:“As of March 2000, China had 2,160 newspapers with a total annual circulation of 26 billion. However, these numbers are estimates because newspaper circulation is actually unknown in China. Except for several successful ones, most papers do not give real numbers thus discrepancies exist depending upon the source used. The numbers cited below can only be used as an indication of the general trends. Also, circulation does not necessarily reflect popularity or influence, due to mandatory subscription or larger populations in some areas. [Source: Ting Ni, World Press Encyclopedia, Gale Group Inc., 2003]

“As of 1997 there were 143 evening newspapers in China. Three of them have circulations of over 1 million. They are the Yangcheng Evening News, Yangzi Evening News, and Xinmin Evening News (China National Evening Newspaper Association). Local evening papers, usually general interest dailies, are among the best sellers. They are under the direct control of the municipal Party propaganda committee and with more soft news content closer to everyday urban life are aimed at urban families.

“The huge gap between Chinese urban and rural areas in terms of living standards is reflected in the access to the media and information. Although the majority of the Chinese population are peasants (79 percent), Chinese media basically serve urban populations since they are more educated and enjoy greater consumption power. Because of high illiteracy rates and the rapid increase of radio and television sets among Chinese peasants, rural residents increasingly use television as their source of information rather than newspapers.

Popular Newspapers China in the 2000s

The major national newspaper,”Renmin Ribao” (People’s Daily), was established in 1948 as the main organ of the Chinese Communist Party. It had a print circulation of nearly 2.2 million in the mid 2000s, and offers overseas editions and Internet access in foreign languages. Other major newspapers published in Beijing are “”Gongren Ribao” (Workers’ Daily), “Nongmin Ribao” (Farmers’ Daily), “Zhongguo Qingnian Bao” (China Youth News), “Guangming Ribao” (Bright 34 Daily), “Jiefangjun Bao (Liberation Army Daily), and “Zhongguo Ribao (China Daily). There are two major newspapers published outside of Beijing: “Jiefang Ribao” (Liberation Daily), published in Shanghai, and “Nanfang Ribao” (Southern Daily), published in Guangzhou. These newspapers had circulations of between 300,000 and 2.5 million in the mid 2000s and all had Internet editions by that time. [Source: Library of Congress, 2006]

The circulations and home of the major newspapers in 2002 were: A) Gongren Ribao (Worker's Daily ), Beijing, 2,500,000; B) Renmin Ribao (People's Daily ), Beijing, 2,150,000; C) Xin Min Wanbao (Xin Min Evening News ), Shanghai, 1,800,000; D) Wenhui Bao (Wenhui Daily ), Shanghai, 1,700,000; E) Yangcheng Wanbao (Yangcheng Evening News ), Guangzhou, F) 1,300,000; Jiefang Ribao (Liberation Daily ), Shanghai, 1,000,000; and G) Jiefangjun Bao (Liberation Army Daily ), Beijing, 800,000. [Source: Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations, Thomson Gale, 2007]

Southern Weekend is regarded as China's most popular newspaper, with a circulation of 1.6 million readers in the mid 2010s. It circulates beyond southern China and now outsells the People's Daily, which still has a lot of readers but only ranks 22nd in 1997 in advertising revenues, The leaders in advertising revenues in the 2000s were the Yancheng Evening News, Guangzhou Daily and Xinmin Evening News.

Xinmin Evening news was the largest newspaper after the People's Daily in the 1990s. It's circulation in 1997 was 1.75 million, up from 1.6 million in 1994. The newspaper has found success with a wide variety of short articles of social interest. It and other successful national papers have had success sending reporters to distant provinces to report on scandals and controversies that local newspapers are too afraid to report on.

The following table lists the 10 largest newspapers with their circulations (Press Release Network, 2001).
Cankao Xiaoxi (Reference News) 9,000,000
Sichuan Ribao (Sichuan Daily) 8,000,000
Gongren Ribao (Workers Daily) 2,500,000
Renmin Ribao (People's Daily) 2,150,000
Xinmin Wanbao (Xinmin Evening News) 1,800,000
Wenhuibao (Wenhui Daily) 1,700,000
Yangcheng Wanbao (Yangcheng Evening News) 1,300,000
Jingji Ribao (Economic Daily) 1,200,000
Jiefang Ribao (People's Liberation Army Daily) 1,000,000
Nanfang Ribao (Nanfang Daily) 1,000,000
Nongmin Ribao (Farmer's Daily) 1,000,000
Zhongguo Qingnianbao (China Youth Daily) 1,000,000

Popular Newspapers China in 2011

Top 10 daily newspapers in China in 2011 were: 1) Reference News (Caokao Xiaoxi) with a circulation of 3.25 million; 2) People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of China, with a circulation of 2.52 million copies daily; 3) Guangzhou Daily, with a circulation of 1.85 million copies daily, highest of China's metropolitan newspapers; 4) the Yangtse Evening News, based in Nanjing, with a circulation of 1.74 million; 5) Qilu Evening News, based in Jinan with a daily circulation of 1.67 million.

6) Information Times, based in Guangzhou, with a circulation of 1.57 million; 7) Southern Metropolitan Daily, based in Guangzhou, with a circulation of 1.40 million; 8) Global Times, based in Beijing, with a circulation of 1.35 million; 9) Jinling Evening News, based in Nanjing, with a circulation of 1.20 million; 10) West China City News, based in Chengdu, with a circulation of 1.15 million.

Reference News was established on Nov. 7, 1931, in Jiangxi Province the paper was initially only available to cadres above the jiguan ganbu (agency level) and their families. It largely contained a collection of foreign wire service and newspaper reports carefully selected and translated by Xinhua News Agency. Another source of foreign reporting was Cankao Ziliao (Reference Information), a more restricted Chinese reprint of foreign reportage available only to middle- and upper-level cadres. Both of these publications often included foreign reports critical of China. In 1985, authorities decided to allow general subscriptions to Reference News as increased competition among news sources sent its circulation plummeting from 11 million in 1980 to 4 million in 1985. It had approximately 7 to 8 million readers in the early 2000s and contained international news, including commentary from media sources in Western countries, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. It also gave a glimpse into behind-the-scenes domestic policy debates and factional struggles. In 2011, the paper is sold at newsstands around the country for about 0.80 yuan.

The Guangzhou Daily is the official newspaper of the Guangzhou municipal Party committee and had the highest circulation of China's metropolitan newspapers in 2011. According to China.org: Its masthead uses calligraphy written for the paper by Mao Zedong. The daily has managed to compete with more daring commercial papers in Guangzhou, raking in more advertising revenue than any other paper in the country.

Yangtse Evening News is commercial paper established on New Year's Day, 1986. In 2011, it was printed every afternoon at 17 printing centers in Jiangsu Province and neighboring Shanghai and Anhui Province. Its masthead uses calligraphy written for the paper by former CPC general secretary Hu Yaobang.

The Qilu Evening News was founded on New Year's Day and is has traditionally been distributed mainly in Shandong Province, where it has long been the dominant daily in terms of both circulation and advertising revenue. Former Chinese leader and economic reformer Deng Xiaoping wrote the masthead for the Evening News, which is one of 11 papers published by the Dazhong Newspaper Group.

Information Times was founded in 1985 as a business paper. Owned by the Guangzhou Daily Newspaper Group, it underwent an extensive makeover in 2001 and became a commercial tabloid with comprehensive news coverage. It underwent a another redesign in 2006. In 2011 it was the most-read tabloid in Guangdong Province.

Southern Metropolitan Daily focuses primarily on Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and is also distributed in Hong Kong, Macao and elsewhere in the Pearl River Delta region. Publications by its publisher, the Southern Media Group, has a reputation for investigative journalism and provocative commentary. See Below

The Jinling Evening News is published by the Nanjing Daily Newspaper Group,. Founded on New Year's Day, 1993, it was initially a relatively minor player in the competitive Nanjing news market. It became Jiangsu Province's top paper in 2004 after an aggressive four-year expansion that quintupled its circulation. Its masthead uses characters written by renowned calligrapher and Buddhist leader Zhao Puchu.

10) West China City News is Sichuan Province's most-read newspaper. Established on New Year's Day, 1995, it was the largest of 12 newspapers published by the Sichuan Daily Newspaper Group in 2011. A commercial paper, it generated a hefty 1.2 billion yuan in advertising revenue in 2010 and had the third fastest-growing ad sales of any Chinese newspaper.

Top Newspapers in China by 2019 Newspaper Web Ranking

1) China Daily, based in Beijing; 2) Economic Daily, based in Beijing; 3) Yang Bao, based in Guangzhou; 4) People's Daily, based in Beijing; 5) Jie Fang Daily, based in Shanghai; 6) Qingdao News, based in Qingdao; 7) Beijing Daily, based in Beijing; 8) Hebei Daily, based in Shijiazhuang; 9) Yangtse Evening Post, based in Nanjing; 10) Jingji Guancha Bao, based in Beijing; 11) Liaoning Daily, based in Shenyang; 12) Shanghai Daily, based in Shanghai; 13) Chongqing Chen Bao, based in Chongqing; 14) Shaanxi Daily, based in Xi'an; 15) Qilu Wan Bao Qilu Wan Bao, based in Jinan; 16) Xian Wan Bao, based in Xi'an; 17) Taiyuan Daily, based in Taiyuan; 18) Tianjin Daily, based in Tianjin; 19) Luoyang Daily, based in Luoyang; 20) Quanzhou Wan Bao, based in Quanzhou; [Source: 4th International Media and Newspapers]

21) Haixia Dushi Bao, based in Fuzhou; 22) Shanxi Daily, based in Taiyuan; 23) Chinese Economic Times, based in Beijing; 24) Daqing Daily, based in Daqing; 25) Wuxi Daily, based in Wuxi; 26) Zhongshan Daily, based in Zhongshan; 27) Chongqing Wan Bao, based in Chongqing; 28) Jin Wan Bao, based in Tianjin; 29) Shijiazhuang Daily, based in Shijiazhuang; 30) Nanjing Daily, based in Nanjing; 31) Yunnan Daily, based in Kunming; 32) Sichuan Daily, based in Chengdu; 33) San Qin Dushi Bao, based in Xi'an; 34) Huaxi Dushi Bao, based in Chengdu; 35) Xiaoxiang Chen Bao, based in Changsha; 36) Xinhua Daily, based in Nanjing; 37) Heilongjiang Daily, based in Harbin; 38) Yinchuan Wan Bao, based in Yinchuan; 39) Jinhua Daily, based in Jinhua; 40) Dongnan Kuai Bao, based in Fuzhou;

41) Chengdu Wan Bao, based in Chengdu; 42) Jiujiang Daily, based in Jiujiang; 43) Wenhui Bao, based in Shanghai; 44) Hainan Tequ Bao, based in Haikou; 45) Hebei Jingji Daily, based in Shijiazhuang; 46) Chengdu Daily, based in Chengdu; 47) Dalian Daily, based in Dalian; 48) Wenzhou Daily, based in Wenzhou; 49) China Business News, based in Beijing; 50) Jining Daily, based in Jining; 51) China Industry & Commerce News, based in Beijing; 52) Xuchang Daily, based in Xuchang; 53) Mianyang Daily, based in Mianyang; 54) Heze Daily, based in Heze; 55) Shangqiu Daily, based in Shangqiu; 56) Jiangmen Daily, based in Jiangmen; 57) Hu Lunbeier Daily, based in Huhehaote; 58) Lianyungang Daily, based in Lianyungang; 59) Jiaozuo Daily, based in Jiaozuo; 60) Baoji Daily, based in Baoji;

61) Xinjiang Daily, based in Urumqi; 62) Nantong Daily, based in Nantong; 63) Tongling Daily, based in Tongling; 64) Qihuo Daily, based in Beijing; 65) Pingdishian Daily, based in Pingdishian; 66) Wenzhou Shang Bao, based in Wenzhou; 67) Chuzhou Daily, based in Chuzhou; 68) Hebi Daily, based in Hebi; 69) Xinxiang Daily, based in Xinxiang; 70) Hainan Daily, based in Haikou; 71) Zhejiang Workers Daily, based in Hangzhou; 72) Chaozhou Daily, based in Chaozhou; 73) Liangshan Daily, based in Xichang; 74) Wenzhou Dushi Bao, based in Wenzhou; 75) Shenzhen Daily, based in Shenzhen; 76) Yuxi Daily, based in Yuxi; 77) JiNan Times, based in JiNan; 78) Sanya Chen Bao, based in Sanya; 79) Qian Xi Nan Daily, based in Xingyi; 80) Qinzhou Daily, based in Qinzhou;

81) Lasa Wan Bao, based in Lasa; 82) Qitaihe Daily, based in Qitaihe; 83) Tengzhou Daily, based in Tengzhou; 84) Zigong Daily, based in Zigong; 85) Wanxi Daily, based in Lu'an; 86) Shantou Tequ Wan Bao, based in Shantou; 87) Yibin Wan Bao, based in Yibin; 88) Bod Kyi Dus Bob, based in Lasa; 89) Nanyang Daily, based in Nanyang; 90) Shenyang Daily, based in Shenyang; 91) Shanghai News, based in Shanghai; 92) Haikou Wan Bao, based in Haikou; 93) Chengde Daily, based in Chengde; 94) Liuyang Daily, based in Liuyang; 95) China Business Times, based in Beijing; 96) Nanning Daily, based in Nanning; 97) Zaozhuang Daily, based in Zaozhuang; 98) Chutian Metropolis Daily, based in Wuhan; 99) Shantou Daily Shantou Daily, based in Shantou;

People’s Daily

The People's Daily was reportedly founded in the caves of Yennan after the Long March (but was really founded on June 15, 1948 in the Hebei Province) and later moved to Beijing, where it became the main Communist party in 1949. Estimates of total readership have traditionally been difficult because the newspaper is read over loudspeakers, broadcast on trains and radio station, and placed in glass cases for people on the streets to read.

The People's Daily is the official newspaper of the Communist Party of China. In 2011 it boasted the second largest circulation of any Chinese newspaper with 2.52 million copies sold daily. According to China.org the paper provides direct information on the policies and viewpoints of the Party, making it a widely read source among analysts looking for insight into Chinese politics. In addition to its main Chinese-language edition, the paper also publishes online editions in English, Japanese, French, Spanish, Russian and Arabic.

The huge circulation of the People's Daily has traditionally benefited from the mandatory subscription of all Chinese working units. In the early 2000s, the paper ran five subsidiary newspapers, including its overseas edition, which propagated the Communist Party line to overseas Chinese.The other four editions included two editions covering economic news, a satire and humor tabloid, and an international news edition. [Source: Ting Ni, World Press Encyclopedia, Gale Group Inc., 2003]

Leo Lewis wrote in The Times, “In its Maoist, doctrinaire prime, the People’s Daily newspaper of China railed against capitalists as the rapacious agents of all human misery. Since 1948, the People’s Daily has stood as the formal mouthpiece of the Communist Party: providing a dependably propagandist read every morning even as Chinese society has been transformed under its gaze. It has never strayed far from its roots: the newspaper’s masthead was handwritten by Mao Zedong and it continues to channel the policies and theories of the party to its 2.45 million subscribers. When it established its People.com.cn portal in 1997, the paper exported its turgid reports to a medium where the private sector rapidly began to produce far more attractive and commercially ambitious online fare...turning to the very market mechanisms its parent newspaper once so despised,. [Source: Leo Lewis, The Times, January 12, 2012]

Southern Metropolitan News

The Southern Metropolitan News, a newspaper in Guangzhou, is known for its aggressive reporting on social problems and hard-hitting investigative pieces on corruption. Founded in the mid 1960s, it reported the first SARS cases in China and set off a series of protests that led to policy changes by the Chinese government with its coverage of a story about the fatal beating of a young, college graduate by police detained because he didn’t have proper identification.

Southern Metropolitan Daily is also a tabloid. It features half nude models and gossip stories about movie stars and singers and run long pieces about things like the death of Princess Diana. One of its biggest exclusives was a report on a police officer who killed his mistress after quarreling in public with her over a fur coat at a restaurant. It also gave extensive coverage to the World Cup and has popular consumer and cooking sections. Its circulation, advertising revenues and profits rose from 80,000, $970,00, and$1 million in 1997 to 1.3 million, $157 million and $20 million in 2003.

After the newspaper ran a story about a teh beating death of an imprisoned that stirred up a lot of contraversy, Cheng Yizhong, the controversial editor of the Southern Metropolis News, said, “We are responsible for the news we report, no matter what the news is and no matter what the responsibilities are we probe to get to the bottom of the news. We are responsible for all the news we report, including political responsibility, economic responsibility and social responsibility.” The statement was quite bold by Chinese standards,

Six weeks after making the statement, in January 2004, Cheng and 20 editors and business managers at the Southern Metropolitan Daily were detained and interrogated. In March Cheng and the newspaper’s general managers were given 8 and 12 year prison sentences on trumped up charges of embezzlement and accepting bribes. The sentences were largely seen as payback by local officials in Guangdong, angered by stories about corruption, AIDS and particularly reports that the officials covered up SARS cases even though they promised to be open about the disease. Later the sentences were reduced. Editor Yu Huanfend was released in February 2008.

Apple Daily and Outspoken and Unhealthy Papers in China

Since the 1990s a number of independent-minded newspapers and journals have appeared. Some have made an impact by covering on corruption, exploitation of the poor and other social issues. Other have profited with tabloid journalism. Some have combined the two. Bing Dian, or Freezing Point, was a muck-racking supplement to the China Youth Daily. Among other things it revealed an internal Communist Party memo on the Internet that detailed how journalists were rewarded with cash and banned based on their approval rating by China’s leaders. Bing Dian was shut down by the government in January 2006 after an essay appeared that criticized the nationalist content of school textbooks. No reason was given for the shut down. Bian Dian was allowed to reopen a month later with new editors and diluted content.

The Apple Daily was a newspaper published in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2021. Founded by Jimmy Lai, it was one of the best-selling Chinese language newspapers in Hong Kong. At the forefront of reporting about corruption and civil disturbances on the mainland, the newspaper had a circulation of 330,000 in the late 2000s, second among Hong Kong's dailies. It was forced to close down in June 2021 at the height of the anti-mainland-government demonstrations after Jummy Lai was arrested

Of the Apple Daily's 350 editorial staff members, 15 to 20 were usually working undercover in China at any one time. The William-Tell-themed television advertisement that launched the paper showed Lai with an apple on his head surrounded by masked men in tuxedos and Mao jackets with bows and arrows. The ad ended with an arrow-pierced Lai biting into the apple, while an announcer says, "an apple a day keeps the lies away."

Lai founded two of Hong Kong's most popular and controversial publications, NEXT magazine and the Apple Daily. Lai is a businessman who fled the Cultural Revolution on the mainland land at the age of 12 and bought his first garment factory at the age of 26 and built a $300 clothing empire based on brand of clothing with an Italian name (Girodano) so people wouldn't think it was from Hong Kong. A year after a Tiananmen Square Lai launched Next magazine, a 400-page politics-and-entertainment news weekly with a readership of more than 1 million. The magazine was so chock full of advertisements it is as thick as a telephone book.

"Unhealthy papers” with nude photos and alien abduction stories are sold at bus stations and on streets corners. Although they have often been criticized the government they are very popular.

English- Language Newspapers in China

Wikipedia lists 12 n10-language newspaper published in China: 1) Beijing Today, 2) The Canton Register, 3) China Daily, 4) Chinese Courier, 5) Global Times, 6) National Business Daily, 7) North China Daily News, 8) Shanghai Daily, 9) Shanghai Evening Post & Mercury, 10) The Shanghai Herald, 11) Shanghai Star and 12) Shenzhen Daily

As of 2000, there were 14 English newspapers in China. At that time they are perceived as reporting on China's problems with less propaganda. The most authoritative publication for foreigners at that time was the multilingual weekly Beijing Review, which distributed in China and abroad with a 1995 circulation of more than 100,000. [Source: Ting Ni, World Press Encyclopedia, Gale Group Inc., 2003]

The China Daily is the main English-language newspaper in China (See Below). The Global Times began publishing an English edition in April 2008. . The paper publishes websites featuring content from its Chinese and English editions. As of 2011, an electronic copy of the English edition is available free; the Chinese edition offers paid digital subscriptions.

In the 2000s, Guangzhou Daily Publishing Group put out an English edition called the Guangzhou Morning Post and maintains an English news portal, Life of Guangzhou. For foreigners. 21st Century English Education Media, launched in 1993 by the People’s Daily was aimed at primary school, middle school and university students. It has developed into an all-platforms education institution and is now China’s leading brand for English education.

The main Hong Kong daily English-language newspaper is the South China Morning Post. American and European periodicals may be available for purchase in some hotels and bookstores in major cities. The Asian Wall Street Journal and the International Herald Tribune are no longer published. In 2002, Hong Kong had over 75 daily newspapers in circulation, some of which are English language papers from other countries.

Rupert Murdoch introduced Chinese and Indian versions of the Wall Street Journal. In Beijing it was hard to find the International Herald Tribune, Asian Wall Street Journal and Financial Times when they were published except at hotels like the Hilton or Sheraton. They were printed in Hong Kong and shipped to mainland A ban on printing foreign newspapers in mainland China was upheld in 2006. A surprisingly large number of foreign magazines are available uncensored at Chinese public libraries.

China Daily

The China Daily is official state-run English-language paper. Published in Beijing, it began publication in June 1981 and was provided to foreigners living or traveling in China but was also was read by a large number of Chinese literate in English. It offers international news and sports from the major foreign wire services as well as interesting domestic news and feature articles and in the past was known covering delicate issues in China that received little or no coverage in the Chinese-language media. . [Source: Library of Congress, July 1987] . The China Daily was the first English newspaper to appear in China. Published in by the People’s Daily, the main Chinese Communist Party (CCP) news source, it serves as the CCP's official English organ. It had a circulation of 150,000 in 1999. In the 2000s it was published six days a week but now has 24 pages Monday to Friday and 16 pages on Saturday and Sunday. [Source: China Daily. Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations, Thomson Gale, 2007]

As of the late 2010s the China Daily had a circulation of 900,000 copies, with 600,000 distributed overseas through nine print editions and digital media worldwide.. According to the China Daily, the newspaper attracts high-end readers from diversified fields, including diplomats, representatives of international organizations and transnational corporations, international media reporters and editors, as well as foreign tourists. China Daily also publishes in Hong Kong , the United States, Canada, European countries, Asia, ASEAN countries, Africa, and Latin America, These editions are distributed to local governments, embassies and consulates, think tanks, universities, financial institutions, transnational corporations, international organizations, hotels and high-income readers. [Source: China Daily]

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Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London, The Guardian, National Geographic, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, Lonely Planet Guides, Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.

Last updated May 2022