"New business" in China's mass media helps to expand whole industry

New products in China's mass media industry, such as audio and video technology, text messages, Internet access and online games, have helped to expand the whole industry, according to a blue paper jointly published by domestic academia Thursday.

The paper, titled "The development report on China's mass media industry: 2004-2005", is the first of its kind in China.

"Within the industry, newspaper, audio and video products and online games are the fields seeing the fastest growth potential," the paper said.

In the past, these things were ignored when calculating the industry's market scale, said Cui Baoguo, the paper's chief editor and a professor with the school of journalism and communication at the prestigious Qinghua University.

China's mass media industry has claimed 32.7 million yuan ( about four million US dollars) in market scale in 2004, the paper said.

"The figure is different from the previous version of 10 million yuan (some 1.2 million US dollars) which has proved quite popular, because we have a different understanding of the components of the industry's structure and scale," said Cui.

In addition to profits from traditional media, including newspapers, periodicals, broadcasting and TV, in which advertisement revenue is one of the major sources of income, circulation and cable TV revenue should also be taken into account, said Cui.

Driven by increasing investments and consumption, China's mass media industry will grow into a sunrise industry with high profits and investment potential in future years, said the paper.

Fourteen businesses are cited as the core businesses of China's mass media industry: advertisements in newspapers, TV, periodicals, broadcasting, general advertising, cable TV access charges, paper publication, newspaper and periodical publication, film box office revenue, audio and video products, text messages, Internet access fees and online games.

In 2005, the Chinese government will conduct systematic reforms within the industry to adjust its structure, ward off homogeneity and advocate clean operation, the paper said.

From 2004 to 2006, the industry's growth rate will face a slight decline compared with in 2003. However, it will experience a hike in 2006 due to stimulation from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and will climax in 2008, the paper predicted.

Source: Xinhua