Shenzhen's two largest daily newspapers have joined forces to form one of the mainland's biggest print media groups.
The Shenzhen Special Zone Daily and the Shenzhen Economic Daily officially became sister publications on Monday, forming the Shenzhen Newspaper Group.
The group is the mainland's largest in terms of the number of newspaper titles, the New Express News said yesterday. It has eight papers and four magazines.
The move was largely driven by a desire to create more competitive media groups following China's accession to the World Trade Organisation. But China's WTO entry agreement contains no provisions mandating the opening of the media market.
The development means that Shenzhen now has only one newspaper group.
Newspaper groups on the mainland generally ensure that titles complement rather than compete with each other.
In Guangzhou, by contrast, the existence of three newspaper groups - represented by the Guangzhou Daily, Nanfang Daily and Yangcheng Evening News - has given rise to the mainland's most competitive media market.