The Chinese government will create conditions and adopt
preferential policies for the media sector to achieve development
and growth through self-reform, a senior official with the State
Administration of Press and Publication said?in
Boao?Sunday.
Liu Binjie, deputy director of the administration, made the
remark at a meeting on the power and responsibilities of the media
during the 2003 annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia, which
is being held in south China's Hainan
Province.
He said the government supports the opening-up of the Chinese
media and encourages the Chinese media to cooperate with foreign
counterparts and to compete on the international market.
Liu said he was convinced that China would have its own
nation-wide media groups in several years.
Meanwhile, China would gradually open its distribution market
for publications to the outside.
Currently, China's mainland has 2,119 newspapers, 9,038
magazines, 568 publishing houses and more than 290 audio-visual
producers. China also has 1,969 radio and television stations and
over 150 news websites on the Internet.
Sending short messages through mobile phones has become
increasingly popular in China, especially among young people.
?
(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2003)