WORLD PRESS TRENDS - World Association of Newspapers

CHINA
The management of newspapers is still normally organised
along the lines of the government hierarchy, so most city
newspapers are subsidiaries of provincial-level Party
mouthpieces. The ascendancy of the city newspapers over their
parent titles represent the change in the function of newspaper
from vehicles of propaganda to institutions of public opinion,
and from the planned economy to the market.
%
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
city government economic industrial others
2000
2001
2002
The situation in rural areas is very different. The rural
newspaper market has been declining since 2000, when the State
Council decided to reduce the number of newspapers and
magazines that rural Chinese are forced to buy. In Ningxia
province in north-west China, for example, villages may no
longer be forced to buy more than one newspaper or magazine,
which can charge no more than RMB 400 a year. In Zhejiang
POPULATION
and Jiangsu, the annual subscription can cost no more than RMB
2,000. Before the reform, more than 90% of villages subscribed
to at least one newspaper; afterwards, the proportion fell to less
than 60%. The reform is estimated to have cost the rural
newspaper industry about RMB 100 million a year.
Booming city newspapers and slumping countryside
newspapers epitomise the urban and the rural divide in
mainland China. Rural Chinese constitute 85% of the total
population. How to meet their needs is a great problem,
challenge and opportunity for the Chinese press.
References:
1. Yaolin and Xing Dongjie. 2002. Advertising Revenue of All
Types of Newspapers. www.media.sinobnet.com, July 20,2002.
2. Analysed Report about Advertising Business of City
Newspapers. www.cnad.com. Feb.20, 2003.
3. Association of Shandong Newspapers and Dazhong Daily
Group. Investigative Report on Distribution of the CCP
Newspapers in Shandong Province. China Newspaper Industry,
No.11, 2002.
4. Liu Bo. 2002. On Strengthening China’s Newspaper Industry.
Journal of International Communication. No.6, 2002.
5. Chen Juncong. 2002. Developing and Cultivating the Core
Competitiveness of Party Newspaper Groups. Conference on
Media Integrating and Media Economy at Beijing, Oct.26~27,
2002.
Population by age and sex
All individuals Male Female Households
000 % 000 % 000 % 000
Children 304,957 25 161,895 25 143,062 24 345,530
16-24 177,175 14 90,218 14 86,957 14
25-34 244,916 20 125,591 20 119,325 20
35-44 190,390 15 98,384 15 92,006 15
45-54 148,825 12 76,744 12 72,081 12
55-64 88,074 7 45,736 7 42,338 7
65+ 88,272 7 41,708 7 46,564 8
Total 1,242,609 100 640,276 100 602,333 100
Source: Communique on Major Figures of the 2000 Population Census.
China Population Statistics Yearbook 2001.
Housewives 2001 (co-habiting persons)
Housewives
000 %
under 25 7,632 2
25-34 79,518 24
35-44 88,787 26
45-54 75,061 22
55-64 46,486 14
over 65 39,028 12
Total 336,512 100
Source: Communique on Major Figures of the
2000 Population Census; China Population
Statistics Yearbook 2001
Population by social class (30 cities)
Adults Male Female
000 % 000 % 000 %
AB 5,408 11 3,499 13 1,909 8
C1 6,645 13 4,102 15 2,543 11
C2 8,661 17 4,861 18 3,800 16
D1 18,033 36 8,491 31 9,542 41
D2 7,282 14 4,096 15 3,186 14
E 4,564 9 2,448 9 2,116 9
Total 50,593 100 27,497 100 23,096 100
Source: CMMS 2002 (Spring) (30 cities)
AB = government officials, senior skilled professionals,
senior managers
C1 = mid-grade skilled professionals, middle managers
C2 = junior skilled professionals, junior managers,
entrepreneurs
D1 = factory/construction/service industry employees
D2 = clerks, freelance workers, housekeepers
D2 = sales, service and transport workers
E = other
Newspaper reach 2002 (%)
Daily Weekly Monthly
All adults 70.9 90.2 92.3
Housewives 68.7 88.1 90.5
Source: CMMS 2002 (Spring)
Based on 30 major cities
Households 2001
Households
Occupancy 000 %
1 person 21,256 6
2 people 51,794 15
3 people 101,619 30
4 people 85,406 25
5 or more people 76,437 23
Total 336,512 100
Source: Communique on Major Figures of the
2000 Population Census; China Population
Statistics Yearbook 2001
WORLD ASSOCIATION OF NEWSPAPERS - WORLD PRESS TRENDS 2003 81