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China shuts down 677 Party-run newspapers
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-03-15 16:08

China has, since the government started to reform state-owned newspapers seven months ago, shut down 677 government and Party newspapers. This move is aimed at alleviating the financial burdens on farmers and grassroots units caused by compulsory subscriptions.

This move will help people and units save 1.8 billion yuan (US$217 million) in compulsory subscription fees.

There are 1,452 Party and government newspapers involved in the state-owned newspaper reform. Besides the 677 newspapers already shut down, 325 state-owned newspapers were transferred to commercial newspaper groups while 310 newspapers were separated from government departments, and 94 official journals have been converted for free publications.

All the efforts directly cut 1.54 billion copies of newspapers every year, according to the work group in charge of the reform.

The move to forbid mandatory subscription to government and Party newspapers, which is mainly aimed at relieving the financial burden of farmers and units at grassroots level, has been welcomed by cadres and people nationwide.

The long-term supervision system should be established to ensure that no compulsory subscription of state newspapers is forced on people again, the group said.

Currently, China's mainland publishes 2,119 newspapers, 9,038 magazines and 568 publishing houses. In September of 2003, regulators issued measures likely to reform Party and government publications by ending their state funding and mandatory subscription schemes.

 
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