Free flow of information in China makes good economic sense
The environment for media is improving, says a journalism association but an even freer press would boost development
The mainland has the largest media market in the world but consistently ranks as one of the lowest among countries in terms of press freedom.
Yet the All-China Journalists Association, in a report on Chinese media development released last week, said the environment for reporting on the mainland had become more open.
It's certainly has volume - more than 1,900 newspapers in operation with a print run that exceeded 48 billion in 2013. The influence of new, internet-based media has also risen sharply in the country over the last 20 years.
The mainland now has more than 600 million internet users, 500 million of whom go online mostly on mobile devices, suggesting the country is making advances in integrating traditional and internet-based media.
The 16,000-word report by the association - which acts as an official watchdog for journalism while positioning itself an independent social organisation - lauded the mainland's achievements in the media industry but failed to respond to international criticism about Beijing's repression of the press.
Two major global media watchdogs - Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists - have criticised Beijing for its lack of progress in giving the press more freedom under the leadership of President Xi Jinping .
In its 2014 press freedom index report, Reporters Without Borders ranked China 175th among 180 countries, saying the country was still censoring and jailing dissident writers and journalists and classifying it as an "enemy of the internet".