“The print advertising market in China is growing at 37% annually, with total revenues of $5.5 billion last year.” China is obligated by its WTO agreement to “let foreign companies own nationwide distribution networks for books, newspapers, and magazines by December, 2004.” The industry is going to get even more competitive after the announcement that party members are no longer required to subscribe to certain publications. Foreign publishers are still very cautious in reporting hard news and controversial issues, but they will have to provide more quality content to satisfy the increasingly demanding readers in China.
Source at Businessweek.com