Zhao Qizheng, the country's information chief, said a lack of knowledge of economics among the nation's reporting team could hamper development.

"China's journalists should have a solid knowledge of economics and closely watch and reflect the world's economic trends,'' said Zhao, minister of the State Council Information Office.

He made the remarks during a keynote speech at the World Newspaper Forum, an event staged by Hong Kong-based Ta Kung Pao to celebrate its centenary.

Attending the forum were more than 100 publishers and senior editors from more than 50 newspapers in Asia, Europe and America.

In his speech on the current situation and future development of the nation's news media in the era following WTO accession, Zhao said membership would influence the future of news flow in China even though no commitments were made to open up its media market.

Some commitments have been made to open up markets related to the Internet -- commonly recognized as the "fourth medium" -- following entry to the WTO.

Foreign capital can now hold as much as 30 per cent of the stake of ISP (Internet Service Provider) and ICP (Internet Content Provider) firms in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

This will be allowed to rise to 49 percent in 14 cities including Nanjing, Hangzhou and Xiamen a year after the nation's entry date..

Two years after entry, there will be no geographical limits on overseas investors. And foreign capital can form as much as 50 percent of stakes, but its owners will not have decision-making power.

"Although foreign funds are still barred from China's news websites (those set up by news media in China), the flow of foreign capital into non-news websites can also exert pressure on professional news websites,'' said Zhao.

"Backed by strong financial resources and rich experience, ICPs using foreign investment will pose a challenge to professional ones because such ICP websites also run their own news columns,'' said the minister. "So their advantages are quite obvious.''

The population of China's netizens now stands at 33.7 million and is growing at a monthly rate of 5 percent.

Regarding the publishing industry, Zhao said foreign investors will have access to the wholesale and retail market of newspapers and audio-video products.

Such a move aims to attract advanced foreign operation models to China, the minister added.

"China has more than 500 publishing houses but most of them are operating on quite a small scale with poor competitiveness,'' he said.

He called for the emergence of more large publishing, newspaper and broadcasting groups in China.

On media cooperation after WTO entry, Zhao said more overseas media are seeking to have their correspondents stationed in China, with Chinese media enhancing their coverage of foreign economic trends.

(China Daily June 14, 2002)