Foreigners who cannot read Chinese must make do with reading the free China Daily, unless they are willing to pay the hefty subscription fees for major overseas papers or hunt them down at five-star hotels across the city.

Many complain the China Daily lacks interesting and informative content, and serves instead as a propaganda tool for the Government, with articles geared to boost foreign investment.

The Beijing Youth Daily has already placed a job advertisement to hire 10 English editors and two art designers, but the official said the plan for the paper had yet to be finalised.

If the plan comes to fruition, he said the paper would focus largely on local Beijing news of interest to foreign readers, and would only be available in the capital.

'It will probably be a much smaller paper than our Chinese edition,' he said, adding that initially it would be published once a week.

As well as Xinhua translations, the paper would likely hire several reporters with native English-language skills and would welcome freelance submissions.

Glossary

cater (v) to provide what is needed

foreigner (n) a person from another country

hefty (adj) heavy

propaganda (n) the organised promotion of information to assist or damage the cause of a government or movement

fruition (n) completion, the fulfilment of an aim

freelance (adj) relating to a person hired to do a specific job on a temporary basis

Discussion points

Do you believe a local English newspaper is necessary in Beijing or should foreigners learn Chinese?

How important is an English newspaper to people in Hong Kong? Give your reasons.