Update | Regulator calls for reshuffle at 'New Express' over Zoomlion scandal

Guangdong's press regulator said the management of the New Express tabloid should be reshuffled after a series of "incorrect" reports that alleged financial problems at heavy equipment manufacturer Zoomlion.

The statement by the Guangdong Administration of Press and Publication, Radio, Film and Television concluded an official investigation into the case that saw the reporter behind the articles, Chen Yongzhou , held by police in Changsha , Hunan , where Zoomlion is based.

"Preliminary investigation shows New Express under the Yangcheng Evening News Group published numerous incorrect reports about Zoomlion from September 2012 to August 2013. The editorial management of New Express was chaotic," it said.

It ordered Yangcheng Evening News to revoke Chen's journalist accreditation and overhaul New Express. The reshuffle of the management should start immediately, the statement said.

The instruction was aired during national prime time evening news, six days after Chen confessed on national TV that he received money to write the series. The video showed Chen - handcuffed, wearing a green prison jumpsuit and his head shaved - admitting to accepting hundreds of thousands of yuan from an unidentified middleman. The man supplied him with articles to publish under Chen's byline. Chen was arrested on a charge of damaging the reputation of Zoomlion, state media reported on Wednesday.

A reporter with New Express said "provincial propaganda department officials had already paid a visit to the newspaper and spoke with editors who have handled the problematic articles" prior to the announcement by the Guangdong press regulator.

Another reporter with the tabloid felt sorry to see their chief editor leave because "he is a professionally capable editor".