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BBC MUNDO RADIO
SHANGHAI — Ten government-backed news websites in China, where the media still face strict controls and censorship, could go public as early as this year, state media said.
Authorities have selected 10 candidates for domestic stock market listings, including Xinhua news agency and China Central Television, the Shanghai Securities News reported at the weekend.
The website of the People's Daily, the Communist Party's mouthpiece, and the Shanghai government's Eastday.com would also be among the first state-run news hubs to go public, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources.
The report said Beijing wants domestic news websites to tap the capital market for more funds to expand and introduce modern shareholding structures -- althugh the state would retain a controlling stake.
The central propaganda department and the China Securities Regulatory Commission are actively pushing for at least one or two firms to go public this year, the report said, citing an unnamed executive at one of the sites.
The website http://www.voc.com.cn, run by the government of Hunan province in central China, has submitted a plan for shareholding restructuring to regulators ahead of a possible listing, the executive was quoted as saying.
Eastday.com may become China's first online news hub to list domestically, the report said, citing Xu Yaowen, an analyst at Galaxy Securities.
An Eastday.com spokeswoman declined to comment when contacted by AFP on Monday.
