China said on Tuesday that news outlets and publishers would be forced to stand on their two feet financially under a reform plan designed to create a more competitive media sector with a global reach.
The nation's industry regulator framed the reforms as a response to the financial crisis, but they come amid a media expansion strategy that experts say is aimed at increasing the global influence of China and its ruling Communist Party.
Guidelines posted on the website of the General Administration of Press and Publication said the plan would "expand a strategy of … stepping out in the world" and "increase the global influence of Chinese culture."
Noting that most of China's media outlets are government-affiliated, the guidelines say news organisations and publishers had between one and two years to transition to fully market-oriented entities.
"About six or seven press and publishing giants with annual revenues of more than 10 billion yuan (1.46 billion dollars) will be set up to compete globally in three to five years," the China Daily newspaper quoted Fan Weiping, an official with the agency, as saying of the plan.
The guidelines said the plan was aimed in part at increasing the "innovative" capacity of the nation's media, but gave no indication whether the Communist Party's iron grip on published information would be affected.
The government strictly polices all media content to ensure it toes the party line, punishing organisations that stray.
Few hard details were provided on how the plan would be implemented.
0fficials at key state-run media outlets told AFP in January they were planning to extend their reach with new foreign-language television networks and publications aimed at foreign audiences and more news-gathering bureaux overseas.
The latest reforms announced on Tuesday would not affect all of the country's media, however, with newspapers and magazines deemed to be serving the "public interest" retaining some government financial support, it said, giving no details.
Experts have said China's media expansion plans are aimed at least in part at countering foreign criticism of Chinese policies on its control of Tibet, human rights record, and other issues.
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