Provisions on the Administration of Newspaper Publishing (Chinese and English Text)

NOTE: These Provisions supersede the 报纸管理暂行规定 (Interim Provisions on the Administration of Newspapers) of December 25, 1990.
The following translation was retrieved from the PRC Ministry of Commerce Web site on November 28, 2005. The Chinese text was retrieved from the People's Daily Web site on March 20, 2006.

A summary of this regulation is available here.

Chapter I General Provision

Article 1 These Regulations are formulated in accordance with the "Regulations on Publication Administration" promulgated by the State Council and related laws and regulations for the purpose of developing and promoting our country's newspaper cause, standardizing and strengthening newspaper publication.

Article 2 These Regulations shall apply to the newspaper publishing activities conducted in the territory of the People's Republic of China.

Newspapers shall be published by publishing units established according to law. To publish newspapers, a publishing unit must get approval of the Press and Publication Administration, national unified publication number and newspaper publication license.

The "newspaper" used in these regulations refers to any loose-leaf publication with fixed name, number of issues and format size and with news and current events survey as the main content that is continuously published at least one issue a weak.

The "newspaper publishing unit" used in these regulations refers to any newspaper office established in accordance with relative provisions of the state as approved by the Press and Publication Administration.

Where a legal person publishes a newspaper without setting up a newspaper office the editorial department established by the legal person for the newspaper shall be deemed to be a publishing unit.

Article 3 Newspaper publication must adhere to Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of "three representatives", follow correct guideline of public opinions and publication orientation and persist in the principle of giving first priority to the social benefits, achieving combination of social benefits and economic returns, leaning close to the practice, the masses and the life, fostering a good atmosphere for building socialism with Chinese characteristics and enriching the cultural life of the broad masses of the people.

Article 4 The Press and Publication Administration shall be responsible for the supervision and administration of publishing activities nationwide, make and implement plans for the total number, structure and distribution of newspaper publishing units nationwide and establish and perfect supervision and management systems such as comprehensive quality assessment system for newspaper publication nationwide, annual newspaper check and examination system and newspaper publication withdrawal system.

The local press and publication administration departments at different level shall be responsible for the supervision and administration of newspaper publishing activities within their own administrative areas.

Article 5 Newspaper publishing units shall responsible for the publishing activities including editing and publication.

Lawful publication activities of newspaper publishing units shall be protected by law. No organization or individual shall illegally interfere with, prevent or disrupt the publishing of newspapers.

Article 6 The Press and Publications Administration shall reward the units and individuals who have made contribution to the development and flourishing of the newspaper cause of the country.

Article 7 The social organization of the newspaper publishing industry shall carry out self-regulation in conformity with the articles of association and under the guidance of press and publication administration department.

Chapter II Establishment of Newspapers and Newspaper Publishing Units

Article 8 For establishment, a publishing unit shall meet the following conditions:

(I) possessing a name different with that of any other exiting newspaper
(II) possessing a name and the articles of association of the publishing unit;
(III) possessing a sponsoring unit which is recognized by the Press and Publication administration of the State Council, and the competent agency at the higher level;
(IV) possessing a well-defined scope of business;
(V) possessing a registered capital of more than 300,000 yuan;
(VI) possessing an organizational structure which meets the needs of its scope of business and editorial and publishing professionals conforming to qualifications stipulated by the State;
(VII) possessing a fixed premise located in the same administrative area of the sponsor;
(VIII) possessing legal representative or major responsible person who must be a Chinese citizen permanently residing in Chinese territory; and
(IX) other requirements prescribed by the laws and administrative regulations.

In addition to the conditions listed in the preceding paragraphs, the approval of the establishment of a publishing unit shall also accord with the plan of the State for the total number, structure and distribution of newspaper publishing units.

Article 9 For a central department located in Beijing to establish newspaper or newspaper publishing unit, the sponsoring unit shall apply to the Press and Publication Administration for approval after getting approval from the host unit.

For the Chinese People's Liberation Army and the Chinese People's Armed Police Forces to establish a newpaper and a publishing unit, the sponsoring unit shall make an application to the Press and Publication Bureau of the Propaganda Department under the General Political Department; the said bureau shall upon examination and consent, submit it to the Press and Publication Administration under the State Council for examination and approval.

For other department to establish a newspaper and publishing unit, after approved by its host unit, the sponsoring unit shall make an application to press and publication administration department the province, autonomous region or municipality where it is located; the said publication administration department shall, upon examination and consent, submit it to the Press and Publication Administration under the State Council for examination and approval.

Article 10 For two or more than two units to establish a newspaper, there must be a major sponsoring unit that shall make application.

The major sponsoring unit of a newspaper shall be a subordinate unit of its host unit; the publishing unit of a newspaper shall be located at the same area of the major sponsoring unit.

Article 11 For establishment of a newspaper and a newspaper publishing unit, the sponsoring unit shall make an application with the following materials:

(I) a "Form of Application for Newspaper Publication";
(II) certificates about the qualification and competence of the sponsoring unit and host unit;
(III) the resume, identification documents and professional qualification certificates of the proposed legal representative or major responsible person of the newspaper publishing unit;
(IV) qualification certificates of editorial and publishing professionals
(V) relative certificate documents about the sources and amount of the fund used for newspaper publishing
(VI) the articles of association of the publishing unit;
(VII) certificate of premise used;
(VIII) feasibility study report on newspaper publishing.

Article 12 The Press and Publication Administration under the State Council shall make a decision of approval or disapproval within 90 days from the date of receipt of the application for the establishment of a newspaper and publishing unit, and press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region or municipality shall inform the sponsoring unit of the decision in written form; reasons shall be given where a decision of disapproval is made.

Article 13 The sponsoring unit establishing a newspaper shall go through the formalities of registration within 60 days from the date of receipt of the information on the approval decision of the Press and Publication Administration.

(I) The sponsoring unit shall take the approval documents to press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region or municipality where it is located to obtain a "Registration Form of Newspaper Publication" and fill it. After examined and signed by the host unit, the form shall be submitted to press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region or municipality where it is located.
(II) The "Registration Form of Newspaper Publication" shall have five copies. Each of them shall be held by the publishing unit, sponsoring unit, host unit and press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region or municipality where it is located; the last copy shall be submitted by press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region or municipality within 15 day to the Press and Publication Administration under the State Council for record.
(III) After examining the "Registration Form of Newspaper Publication" as correct, press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region or municipality shall issue "Newspaper Publishing License" to the sponsoring unit within 10 days and list the newspaper into the national unified publication number.
(IV) The sponsoring unit thus shall apply to the administrative department for industry and commerce for a business license on the basis of "Registration Form of Newspaper Publication".

Article 14 The sponsoring unit of a newspaper shall go through the formalities of registration within 60 days from the date of receipt of the approval document from the Press and Publication Administration; otherwise, the approval document will be invalid, and the registration department would refuse its registration and the sponsoring unit shall return the approval documents back to the Press and Publication Administration.

Where a newspaper publishing unit has not published any newspaper within 90 days from the date of registration, the Press and Publication Administration shall revoke the "Newspaper Publishing License" and the original publication administration department shall cancel the registration.

Where the situation listed in the preceding paragraph is due to force majeur or for other justified reasons, the publishing unit may apply to press and publication administration department for an extension of the said time limit.

Article 15 A newspaper office shall satisfy the requisite conditions of a legal person, obtain the qualifications of a legal person through verification and registration, and undertake civil liabilities independently with all its legal person property.
The editorial department does not have the qualifications of a legal person, and its civil liabilities shall therefore be undertaken by its sponsoring unit.

Article 16 Where a publishing unit changes its name, carries out merger or separation, changes its capital structure or publishes a new newspaper it shall go through the procedures of examination, approval and registration in accordance with the provisions of Articles 9 to Article 13 of these Regulations.

Article 17 Where a newspaper changes its name, sponsoring unit or competent agency at the higher level, number of issues or scope of business, it shall go it shall go through the procedures of examination, approval and registration in accordance with the provisions of Articles 9 to Article 13 of these Regulations.

Where a newspaper changes its number of issues, the Press and Publication Administration can entrust press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region and municipality to make examination and approval.

The scope of business used in these regulations includes the aim and the language used.

Article 18 Where a newspaper changes its size, its publishing unit shall, upon examination and content of its sponsoring unit, apply for approval of the change to press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region or municipality where it is located.

Article 19 Where a newspaper publishing unit changes its address, the legal representative or major responsible person or the printing unit, it unit shall, upon examination and content of its sponsoring unit, be registers with press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region or municipality where it is located within 15 days.

Article 20 Where a newspaper suspends for more than 20 successive days, the publishing unit shall go through the suspension formalities with press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region or municipality where it is located and explain the reason and period of the suspension.

The suspension period of a newspaper should not exceed 180 days. If there is no normal publication for more than 180 days the Press and Publication Administration shall revoke its "Newspaper Publishing License", and press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region and municipality shall cancel the registration.

Article 21 Where a newspaper publishing unit terminates its publishing activities, it shall, upon examination and content of its sponsoring unit, go through registration of cancellation at press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region or municipality where it is located, which shall make a report to the Press and Publication Administration under the State Council for the record.

Article 22 The publishing unit established with the same name of the newspaper cancelled shall be cancelled at the same time and shall go through registration of cancellation at the administrative department for industry and commerce where the original registration was conducted.

The cancelled newspaper and its publishing unit should no longer conduct publishing and business activities with the same name.

Article 23 For central newspaper publishing units to establish a newspaper group, the approval should be given by the Press and Publication Administration; for local central newspaper publishing units to establish a newspaper group, application be submitted to press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region and municipality where they are located and upon examination and content reported to the Press and Publication Administration for approval.

Chapter III Publishing of Newspapers

Article 24 Newspaper publishing shall adopt a system of editor's responsibility to ensure that the contents of the newspapers conform to the provisions of the state laws and regulations.

Article 25 No newspaper shall contain the contents which are prohibited by the "Regulations on Publication Administration" and other laws and regulations or by the state.

Article 26 Newspaper must adhere to the principle of real, overall, objective and just and should not contain false contents inconsistent with the facts.

Where the lawful rights and interests of a citizen, a legal person or some other organizations are infringed upon due to the false and untruthful contents of a newspaper, its publishing unit shall make public corrections, eliminate the effects, and bear civil liabilities according to law.

Where the lawful rights and interests of a citizen, a legal person or some other organizations are infringed upon due to the false or untruthful contents of the report published in a newspaper, the party concerned shall have the right to require to make corrections or make a reply, and the relevant publishing unit shall publish the corrections or reply in its newspaper; in case of refusal to make publication, the party concerned may bring a suit in a people's court.

The corrections or reply to the false and untruthful contents of the report shall be published in the latest issue of the newspaper after the mistakes are found and on the same position where they are found.

Where the public benefits are infringed upon due to the false or untruthful contents of the report published in a newspaper, the Press and Publication Administration or the press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region and municipality can instructed the publishing unit to make corrections.

Article 27 Any newspaper shall abide by the relevant regulations when carrying or reprinting the contents with relation to the important state policy, ethnic religious affairs, diplomacy, military and secrecy of the state.

For any newspaper to reprint and abstract contents from the Internet, the contents must be verified according to relative provisions; the website where the contents are unloaded and the date when they are loaded must be marked in obvious position.

Article 28 For newspaper to carry news report, the real name of the author must be clearly indicated.

Article 29 The quality of newspaper publishing shall meet the national and industrial standards; the language the newspaper uses shall accord with relative provisions of the state.

Article 30 The newspaper publishing shall accord with the registered items in the "Newspaper Publication License"; change of the registered items shall be applied for approval or go through recording formalities.

Article 31 Each issue of the newspaper shall be marked with following edition records on a fixed position when published:

(I) Name of the newspaper;
(II) Names of the publishing unit, sponsoring unit and host unit;
(III) Consecutive national unified publication number;
(IV) Name of the editor-in-chief (director general);
(V) Publication date, general issue number, pages, and series;
(VI) Address, telephone and zip code of the publishing unit;
(VII) Price of the newspaper (extra shall be marked with "free to read");
(VIII) Name and address of the printing unit;
(IX) Number of advertising business license;
(X) Other marks with relation to public benefits or industrial standards as stipulated by the sate.

Article 32 One consecutive national unified publication number only can be used by one newspaper and cannot be use for the publication of different newspapers.

For the publication of a newspaper in different editions (languages) such as local edition, minority nationality language edition and foreign language edition, the application formalities shall be gone through as for creating a new newspaper.

Article 33 One newspaper cannot be published with different sizes.

All the pages of a newspaper shall be issued as a whole and cannot be issued respectively.

Article 34 The special page or special issue of a newspaper shall accord with the aim and business scope of the newspaper; the headline characters of the special page or special issue shall not be larger than the name of the newspaper.

Article 35 In addition to normal issues, extra issue can be published. Application formalities for extra issues shall be gone as changing the number of issues.

The contents of extra issue shall accord with the business scope of the newspaper; the size, language, range of distribution and number of copies shall accord with the main newspaper; the extra newspaper shall be issued along with the main newspaper.

Article 36 Newspaper publishing unit can issue extra for important events; the extra issue shall be market with "Extra" on the head and cannot be published for more than 3 consecutive days.

The publishing unit that issues extra shall register with the press and publication administrative department of the province, autonomous region and municipality where it is located and submit all the sample copies of the extra newspapers within 15 days after publishing.

Article 37 A publishing unit should not sell, lease or transfer its name and the edition number, name and edition layout of its newspaper; and should not lend, transfer, lease and sell the "Newspaper Publication License".

Article 38 For publishing advertisement, the characters of "Advertisement" shall be market on the distinct position of the newspaper; advertisement should not be published in the form of news.

For newspaper to cover advertisement, relative certificates should be checked according to laws and administrative regulations; the contents of the advertisement shall be verified; pernicious, false and illegal advertisement identified should not be published.

Advertisement business of a newspaper shall be limited to advertisement service and advertisement agency within the authorized legal scope and should not be involved in the news gathering, editing and other publishing activities of the newspaper.

Article 39 A newspaper publishing unit should not cover any payable news in the newspaper.

A newspaper publishing unit and its staff should not use news coverage to seek irregular profits for themselves, and should not ask for and accept any property or other benefit from the covered or the interested person.

Article 40 The editorial and publishing operations of a newspaper must be divided with the business operation.

The editorial and publishing department and its staff should not get involved in the business activities with relation to the newspaper distribution and advertisement; the business department and its staff should not get involved in the covering and editing works.

Article 41 The editorial and publishing persons of a newspaper publishing unit who conduct news gathering activities must hold press card verified and issued by the Press and Publication Administration under the State Council and follow relative provisions of the "Measures for Management of Press Card" formulated by the Press and Publication Administration.

Article 42 Based on the demands of news gathering, a newspaper publishing unit can establish press stations in accordance with the "Measures for Management of Press Card" formulated by the Press and Publication Administration to conduct press activities.

Article 43 Newspaper publishing unit should not conduct business activities through illicit competition or with illicit form, and should not apportion distribution of newspapers by taking advantages of its power.

Article 44 Newspaper publishing units shall submit statistics data to the press and publication administration department according to the statistics laws and regulations of the state.

Newspaper publishing units shall cooperate with the publication distribution data investigation body certified by the state to conduct investigation on the distribution number of newspapers and provide real data on newspaper distribution.

Article 45 Newspaper publishing units shall send free sample copies to the National Library of China, China Library of Editions, the Press and Publication Administration under the State Council and the press and publication administration departments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities they are located.

Chapter IV Supervision and Management

Article 46 The supervision and management of newspaper publishing activities shall be conducted under territorial principle.

The press and publication administration departments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities shall be responsible for the supervision and administration of newspaper publishing activities within their own administrative areas accordance to law, including registration, annual inspection, quality assessment and administrative penalty.

Other local press and publication administration departments shall be responsible for the supervision and administration of newspaper publishing units and their newspaper publishing activities within their own administrative areas.

Article 47 Newspaper publication management shall carry out newspaper re-reading system, quality assessment system, annual inspection system and press staff competency management system.

Newspaper publishing units shall submit written report on newspaper publishing activities to the press and publication administration departments according to the provision of the Press and Publication Administration under the State Council.

Article 48 The Press and Publication Administration under the State Council shall be responsible for the re-reading of national newspapers. Local press and publication administration departments at different level shall be responsible for the re-reading of the newspapers published in their own administrative areas. The press and publication administration departments at lower level shall submit report on re-reading to the press and publication administration departments at higher level.

The host units shall re-read the newspapers under their control and submit re-reading reports to the press and publication administration departments where they are located regularly.

Newspaper publishing units shall establish newspaper reading and assessment system and prepare reading and assessment report regularly. The press and publication administration departments can read and inspect the reading and assessment reports of the publishing units at any time based on the requirements for management.

Article 49 The Press and Publication Administration under the State Council shall formulate the comprehensive assessment system for newspaper publishing quality to conduct overall assessment on the publishing quality.

In case the results of the quality comprehensive assessment on a newspaper shows that the quality of the newspaper fails to reach the defined standard or cannot maintain normal publishing activities, the Press and Publication Administration under the State Council shall revoke its "Newspaper Publishing License" and the registration with the press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region and municipality it is located shall be cancelled.

Article 50 The press and publication administration departments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities shall conduct annual verification and examination to the newspaper publishing units located in their administrative areas. The contents of annual verification and examination shall include newspaper publishing unit and the registered items of the newspapers they published, publishing quality, situation of the observance of disciplines and law, management of press cards and press stations etc.

Article 51 Annual verification and examination shall be conducted according to the following procedure:

(I) A newspaper publishing units shall submit annual self-examination report and fill in the unified "Newspaper Publishing Annual Examination Format" printed by the Press and Publication Administration under the State Council; after verified and sealed by the sponsoring and host units, the self-examination report, along with 30 sample copies consecutively published before the date of examination, to the press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region and municipality where it is located.
(II) The press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region and municipality shall conduct verification and examination of the self-examination report, the "Newspaper Publishing Annual Examination Format" and other data and materials submitted by the publishing unit.
(III) If a publishing passes the examination as meeting the defined standard, the press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region and municipality shall stamp the annual examination seal on the "Newspaper Publishing Annual Examination Format". Once the Format stamped, the publishing unit shall go on its newspaper publishing activities.
(IV) The press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region and municipality shall submit an annual examination report to the Press and Publication Administration under the State Council within 30 days after completing the newspaper publishing annual examination.

Article 52 Under one of the following circumstances, the annual examination shall be deferred:

(I) in the process of rectifying and reform within a prescribed time limit of stopping publishing;
(II) being found of unlawful practice constituting penalty;
(III) with host and sponsoring units' failure to implement their responsibility for management leading confusion in management of the newspaper publishing;
(IV) on suspicion of other illegal acts ought to be further verified.

The deferring period of the annual examination shall be decided by the press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region and municipality and be submitted to the Press and Publication Administration under the State Council for record. After the deferring period, the annual examination shall be recovered in accordance with Article 50 and Article 51 of these Regulations.

Article 53 Under one of the following circumstances, the annual examination should not be passed:

(I) violating law but refusing to rectify after being investigated and prosecuted or without obvious results of rectification;
(II) failure to meet the standard defined for publishing quality for long time;
(III) in insolvency because of worsening operation;
(IV) already unable to meet the conditions prescribed in Article 8 of these Regulations.

Failing to pass the annual examination, the publishing unit's "Newspaper Publishing License" shall be revoked by the Press and Publication Administration under the State Council and the registration shall be cancelled by the press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region and municipality where it is located.

Failing to pass the annual examination, the newspaper publishing unit shall stop publishing newspaper starting from the next years.

Article 54 After being stamped with the annual examination seal, the "Newspaper Publishing License" can be used continuously. For relative departments to go through formalities of newspaper publishing, printing and distribution, the "Newspaper Publishing License" without annual examination seal cannot be used.

Where any newspaper publishing unit does not participate annual examination and still refuse to participate under ask, the Press and Publication Administration under the State Council shall revoke its "Newspaper Publishing License", and the press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region and municipality where it is located shall cancel its registration.

Article 55 Organs in charge of the examination can publicize the results of the annual examination to the society.

Article 56 Professionals involved in newspaper publishing shall meet the occupational requirements for press publication prescribed by the state.

Article 57 The director general and editor-in-chief of a newspaper publishing unit shall meet the occupational requirements prescribed by the state.

The director general and editor-in-chief of a newspaper publishing unit shall take part in the occupational training organized by the press and publication administration department.

The new director general and editor-in-chief of a newspaper publishing shall accept occupational training and pass the examination before take their positions.

Chapter V Legal Liabilities

Article 58 Any newspaper publishing unit that violates these Regulations shall be imposed on following administrative countermeasures by the press and publication administration department based on the actual situation:

(I) circulating notice of warning;
(II) circulating notice of criticism'
(III) order to make public self-criticism;
(IV) order to rectify;
(V) order to stop publishing and distributing the newspaper;
(VI) order to retract the newspapers;
(VII) oder the sponsoring and host units to supervise the publishing unit's rectification.

The notice of warning shall take the unified form stipulated by the Press and Publication Administration under the State Council and be sent to the law-breaking newspaper publishing unit by the Press and Publication Administration under the State Council or the press and publication administration department of the province, autonomous region and municipality where it is located, with a copy sent to the sponsoring and host units of the newspaper publishing unit.

The administration measures prescribed in this article can be used in combination.

Article 59 Without approval, any unauthorized establishment or any activity to engage in the unauthorized publication, or to forge or counterfeit the name of a publishing unit, or of a newspaper to publish newspaper, shall be punished in accordance with Article 55 of "the Regulations on Administration of Publication".

Article 60 Publishing newspapers which contain the contents prohibited by "the Regulations on Administration of Publication", other laws and regulations or provisions of the state shall be punished in accordance with Article 55 of "the Regulations on Administration of Publication".

Article 61 Newspaper publishing unit that breaks Article 37 of these regulations shall be punished in accordance with Article 60 of "the Regulations on Administration of Publication".

Newspaper publishing unit that permit or acquiesce in advertisement operators to engage in the publishing activities including covering and editing shall be punished in accordance with the preceding item.

Article 62 A newspaper publishing unit that commits one of the following acts shall be punished in accordance with Article 61 of "the Regulations on Administration of Publication".

(I) A newspaper publishing unit fails to follow these regulations to go through the formalities of examination and approval of change of its name, merger or separation, change of its capital structure, publishing new newspapers;

(II) A newspaper fails to follow these regulation to go through the formalities of examination and approval of changes at its name, sponsoring unit, host unit, number of issues, scope of business and size;

Article 63 Where any newspaper publishing unit commits one of the following acts, the Press and Publication Administration under the State Council or the press and publication department of the province, autonomous region and municipality shall give a warning and impose a fine of no more than RMB 30,000 yuan:

(I) failing to follow Article 19 of these regulations to report for record the changes of address, or legal representative or major responsible person, or printing unit;
(II) failing to follow Article 20 of these regulations to report for record the suspension of publishing;
(III) covering false or inaccurate reports harming public interests and refusing to implement the rectifying order of the press and publication administration department;
(IV) failing to carry the real name of the author when cover report on the newspaper;
(V) covering or abstracting relative articles against Article 27 of these regulations;
(VI) failing to carry editorial record of the newspaper according to Article 31 of these regulations;
(VII) publishing several editions of newspapers with a single number against Article 32 of these regulations;
(VIII) publishing different editions of newspapers or distributing some pages respectively against Article 33 of these regulations;
(IX) violating the provisions of these regulations on publishing special page, special issue, additional issue or extra;
(X) failing to mark the word "advertisement" on the distinct position when covering advertisement or covering advertisement in news form;
(XI) covering payable news or violating other provisions of Article 39 of these regulations;
(XII) conducting business activities through illicit competition or imposing distribution with power against Article 43 of these regulations.

Article 64 Any news gathering persons of a newspaper publishing unit that violates related provisions on Press Card shall be punished in accordance with the "Measures for Administration of Press Cards" formulated by the Press and Publication Administration under the State Council.

Article 65 Any newspaper publishing unit that violates related provisions on press stations shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the "Measures for Administration of Newspaper Press Stations";

Article 66 Any administrative punishment on a newspaper publishing unit shall be noticed to the sponsoring and host units of the newspaper and can be announced to the public through media.

Where administrative punishment is imposed on a newspaper publishing unit, the press and publication administration department shall recommend its sponsoring unit or host unit to give administrative sanction to the direct and major responsible persons or dismiss them.

Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions

Article 67 These regulations also apply to other individual-paged publications possessing national unified consecutive publication number with non-news stories as the major contents or with publishing period over one week.

Article 68 The Provisional Regulations for Administration of Newspaper Publication promulgated by Press and Publication Administration under the State Council shall be repealed simultaneously when these regulations come into effective. Other prior provisions on the administration of newspaper publication activities stipulated by the press and publication administration department that may have conflict with these regulations shall subject to these regulations.

Article 69 These Regulations shall be effective on December 1, 2005.