China Issues Report on News Publishing Industry: Hundreds of Publications Censored, Dozens of Publishers Punished for "Illegally Engaging in News Activities"

September 22, 2006

On February 2 the People's Daily published the following statistics regarding developments in China's news publishing industry in 2004:

  • 338 publications were shut down for publishing internal ("nei bu") information.
  • 202 branch offices of newspapers were shut down.
  • 73 organizations were punished for illegally establishing reporters in branch offices and otherwise "engaging in news activities."
  • The General Administration of Press and Publication screened 600 publications, of which 170 types of "problematic topic selections" were banned, and 213 publishers were punished for "violating regulations."

The Chinese government strictly prohibits private publishing, and tightly regulates all news reporting. A list of relevant regulations is available here.