China eases grip on media industry

An unlikely beneficiary of the liberalisation drive initiated by the third plenum may be the tightly controlled media industry, where the Communist Party leadership is pushing for greater digital orientation and has indicated it is open to private and even overseas investment.

And Shanghai may take the lead in this redrawing of the media landscape, as shown by a recent merger of two of the city's print media giants, followed by the launch of a joint venture between the local new-media leader and Walt Disney.

The Central Committee has reiterated that state assets would still play a dominant role in the media business, with the publicity departments or their investment units holding controlling stakes in new and old ventures.

But the growing desperation of the state-owned media groups, bled by social media and technological changes, to plug their massive losses is likely to lead to new alignments and an evolution in content offerings in keeping with the demands of the digital age.

The newly created Shanghai United Media Group through the merger of Jiefang Daily Group and Wenhui-Xinmin United Press Group, the two largest commercially run newspaper groups, came on the direct initiative of Shanghai party boss Han Zheng. He wants Shanghai United to use information technology to cater to readers.

"The fast growth in IT has ushered in a sea of information," said Shenyin Wanguo Securities analyst Yu Bin, explaining the rationale of a rethink about the industry.