China is relaxing its grip over its traditionally drab media with plans to create half a dozen major publishing houses to compete globally and spread the influence of Chinese culture, a Chinese media watchdog agency said Tuesday.
The reforms _ billed as a way to combat the global economic downturn _ encourage some state-owned publishing companies to slowly separate from the government or Communist Party departments that run them, according to state news reports Tuesday and a government Web site.
The General Administration of Press and Publication said it wants state-owned publishers to merge to create six or seven influential publishing houses in the next three to five years, according to a notice carried on the official Web portal of the State Council Information Office.
State publishers previously were the only ones allowed to officially publish books, magazines, and newspapers. However, private publishers have increasingly moved into the market through joint ventures or by gaining government permits.
Private companies recently have produced many of the country's best-sellers, while state-owned publishers are widely seen as bureaucratic and inefficient.
Fan Weiping, director of the publishing industry development department with GAPP, was quoted as saying by the China Daily newspaper Tuesday that the post-merger publishing companies would shoot for annual revenues of more than 10 billion yuan ($1.46 billion). He did not give additional details.
The GAPP also told state-owned publishers that produce books, videos and electronic products to become more competitive globally by boosting the creativity of their content and marketing overseas, according to the notice.
News organizations should run newspapers or magazines overseas to "further spread the influence and popularity of Chinese culture," it said.
While GAPP is the official watchdog of the media industry, the country's Central Propaganda Department can still monitor content and censor information considered undesirable by the ruling Communist Party.
The notice called for listing the state-owned companies on stock exchanges and having them join ventures with private companies, while indicating that the majority of their shares should remain in state hands. It said their restructuring should be complete by 2010.
"A market-oriented mechanism means it will be more diversified and have less censorship," said Cui Baoguo, a professor with the School of Journalism and Communication at Tsinghua University.
The GAPP notice said the plans do not cover media that serve the "public interest." It did not provide details, but Cai said that likely meant that the reforms would not affect prominent state-run organizations such as China Central Television and the Xinhua News Agency.
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