Caixin Media Company Ltd.
Native name
财新传媒
TypePrivately held company
IndustryNews and publishing
Founded2009 (2009)
HeadquartersChaoyang District, Beijing
Key people
Li Ruigang (Chairman)
Hu Shuli (President)
ProductsCaixin Weekly
Caixin Online
Website

Caixin Media (simplified Chinese: 财新传媒; traditional Chinese: 財新傳媒; pinyin: Cáixīn Chuánméi; lit. 'New Fortune') is a Chinese media group based in Beijing known for business and investigative journalism.[1][2]

Structure

The founder and publisher is Hu Shuli, a former Knight Fellow in journalism at Stanford University, and an honorary doctorate degree recipient from Princeton University. Previously, Hu founded Caijing magazine. Yang Daming acts as deputy publisher, and Wang Shuo is editor-in-chief.[3] The business side is headed by Zhang Lihui as executive president.[4][5][6]

The headquarters is in the Sanlitun SOHO (三里屯SOHO) in Chaoyang District, Beijing. There are also offices in Xuhui District, Shanghai and Quarry Bay, Hong Kong.[7]

History

Departure from Caijing Magazine

Caixin Media was established in January 2010, created subsequently to the departure of Hu Shuli and the majority of the editors and reporters at Caijing Magazine in November 2009.[8] The original staff of Caixin Media is composed entirely of employees from Caijing.

Caijing is a financial news magazine.[9] It was founded by Hu Shuli in 1998 and was managed by the Stock Exchange Executive Council (SEEC[10]) whose chairman is Wang Boming, The magazine largely depends on the political protection by SEEC, its well-connected backer.[11]

In November 2009, Hu Shuli resigned from Caijing along with a large portion of Caijing's journalists after weeks of conflicts with Caijing's controller over issues including "its coverage of sensitive current affairs stories".[11] The magazine was known for its investigative reporting and in-depth business articles; but its backer, according to departing employees, wanted it "to move away from investigative journalism towards straight coverage of business, in the mode of Fortune".[11] The pressure to focus on finance had mounted substantially since the explosion of ethnic violence in Xinjiang in July 2009; reporters at Caijing received orders from SEEC to remove sensitive stories.[9] Besides that, there were also disputes over wages.[11] Jeremy Goldkorn called Hu's departure from Caijing "a big loss for SEEC".[11]

Caixin launched a simple English-language news site called "Caixin Online" in 2010, translating a small number of its Chinese stories each day for foreign readers. In 2016, it greatly expanded that presence with the establishment of a separate company called Caixin Global, with Hu Shuli as CEO and Li Xin as managing director. It included a new English language news app, a new English language website (www.caixinglobal.com) upgraded from Caixin Online, and a range of customized business intelligence services under the banner of Caixin Global Intelligence.[12]

The Caixin China PMI is an economic index compiled and published monthly by IHS Markit; it is often cited by market watchers and media. Caixin Media took over sponsorship of Markit's China PMI from HSBC in 2015,[13] and the research team of Caixin Insight provides analysis for the index.

In April 2018, Caixin Global and CITIC Capital jointly acquired the international business information unit of Britain's Euromoney for $180.5 million, marking one of the biggest offshore purchases ever by a mainstream Chinese media company. The unit, Global Market Intelligence Division (GMID), was a provider of global financial information and data in over 15 languages, with a focus on emerging markets. GMID's two main units are CEIC and EMIS.[14][15]

Establishment of Caixin

Two months after splitting with Caijing, Hu Shuli established Caixin Media and became the executive editor of a new publication called Caixin Weekly.[9]

Caixin Media was invested by various parties. Hu secured a 40-million yuan investment from Zhejiang Daily Press Group, the state-owned newspaper conglomerate, for a 40 percent stake in Caixin.[16] Zhejiang Daily had sought to sell a 19.77 percent stake in Caixin for 56 million yuan in 2011, but later withdrew the sale.[16] In July 2012, Tencent became Caixin's newest stockholder with an undisclosed amount of shares.[16] In December 2013, China Media Capital (CMC) said that it had purchased a 40% stake in Caixin Media from Zhejiang Daily Press Group, thus becoming the largest shareholder.[16] Li Ruigang, the chairman of CMC, said, "My fund and I are very honored to become a part of Caixin"; "Our common goal is to build a China-based financial media platform with international influences."[16]

Introduction of paywall

Caixin Media initially offered content from its website, caixin.com, and its mobile app for free, but charged for the electronic version of its signature magazine. On 6 November 2017, it set up a paywall for caixin.com, becoming the first major Chinese publication to put most of its online content behind a paywall.[17]

The paywall's introduction was part of Caixin's efforts to protect content from copyright infringement and to boost revenue.[18] In May 2018, Hu Shuli, in a speech to students at Renmin University of China, said that many readers had subscribed since testing of the paywall model began in 2016, proving that the market had a positive response to the paywall model.[19]

In an interview in November 2018, one year after the paywall's introduction, Hu Shuli said Caixin had more than 200,000 digital annual subscribers.[20] Caixin's Chinese language website caixin.com receives approximately 130 million page views per month from 50 million unique visitors.[18] Hu said that readership had risen steadily.[21]

In June 2022, Caixin has around 850,000 digital subscribers, according to a new ranking by the International Federation of Periodical Publishers (FIPP). Caixin subscriptions have grown 21% since the first half of 2021, meaning it has overtaken Nikkei.com to become the world’s largest digital news subs business outside of the English-speaking world.[22] Caixin Media's paid readership exceeded 900,000 at the end of October, after the outlet became the world's largest subscription-based media outside the U.K. and the U.S. earlier this year, Hu Shuli announced at the 13th Caixin Summit.[23]

In June 2023, The International Federation of Periodical Publishers (FIPP) released the latest data from the 2023 Global Digital Subscription Report revealing that Caixin has exceeded 1 million paid subscribers, tied for eighth place in international rankings.[24]

Notable events

On 7 March 2016, Caixin published an article that exposed the Cyberspace Administration of China for removing an article on their Chinese website. The reasoning given for the take-down order was "illegal content". The censored article, originally published on 3 March, was about Jiang Hong, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, who said that advisors should be "free to give Communist Party and government agencies suggestions on economic, political, cultural and social issues".[25][26] Publicly exposing such censorship was considered highly unusual in China, and Caixin deliberately referred to the CAC as "a government censorship organ".[26]

On 11 November 2018, Caixin reporter Zhou Chen was harassed by police in her hotel room while on a trip to investigate a petrochemical leak in Quanzhou that sickened over 50 people. The incident prompted outrage on social media and a rare apology from the local police.[27][28][29]

On 27 March 2020, doubts were raised about the accuracy of the reported COVID-19 death toll of 2,535 in Wuhan as Caixin published photos of a truck unloading 2,500 boxed funeral urns arriving from a Hankou funeral home and a further 3,500 boxed funeral urns inside Jingya Hall.[30][31][32][33][34][35]

On 21 October 2021, the Cyberspace Administration of China removed Caixin from its seminal list of news media that can be re-published, substantially gagging it as a news source.[36]

References

  1. ↑ "Caixin (Media) Global | Global Studies". sgs.stanford.edu. Archived from the original on 26 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  2. ↑ "A Chinese magazine fights a battle royal". The Economist. 8 June 2017. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 26 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  3. ↑ "财新传媒人事调整 王烁出任总编辑". Caixin. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  4. ↑ Caixin Conference (20 November 2018). "Caixin Summit". Caixin. Archived from the original on 16 March 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  5. ↑ ""2018国际投资论坛"在京成功举办-和讯网". m.hexun.com. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  6. ↑ "财新-工银国际2019全球经济开放与展望高峰论坛_会议频道_财新网". Caixin. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  7. ↑ "Contact Us". Caixin Global. Retrieved 4 August 2020. Beijing Floor 5, Building 6, Sanlitun SOHO, 8 Gongti Beilu, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China. [...] Shanghai Room 1501-1502, Ascendas Plaza, 333 Tianyaoqiao Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai, China. [...] Hong Kong Room 108, Unit 2402-07, 24th Floor, Berkshire House, 25 Westlands Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong. - Chinese address: "地址：北京市朝阳区工体北路8号院三里屯SOHO 6号楼5层，邮政编码：100027"
  8. ↑ "From Caijing to Caixin – Don't Die Before You're Dead". The China Times. 16 October 2009. Archived from the original on 5 January 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  9. 1 2 3 Watts, Jonathan (30 December 2009). "Chinese editor Hu Shuli takes over news magazine". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 July 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  10. ↑ "SEEC Media Group Limited". seec-media.com.hk. Archived from the original on 25 April 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Branigan, Tania (9 November 2009). "Editor of controversial Chinese magazine resigns after conflict with backers". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 July 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  12. ↑ "Caixin Media Expands its Global Presence with New English-Language Platform - Caixin Global". caixinglobal.com. Archived from the original on 26 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  13. ↑ "Caixin to take over China Markit PMI sponsorship from HSBC". Reuters. 30 June 2015. Archived from the original on 23 June 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  14. ↑ "CITIC Capital, Caixin Global buy global financial information database operator - Xinhua | English.news.cn". Xinhua News Agency. Archived from the original on 30 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  15. ↑ "Caixin Global and CITIC Capital Jointly Acquire Top-Tier International Financial Information Provider - Caixin Global". caixinglobal.com. Archived from the original on 26 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 "New boss, and backing, for Hu Shuli's Caixin Media group". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 12 July 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  17. ↑ "Fact check « Week In China". Week In China. 3 November 2017. Archived from the original on 12 July 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  18. 1 2 "Chinese news outlet Caixin aims to raise up to $200 million for..." Reuters. 9 April 2019. Archived from the original on 26 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  19. ↑ "校友讲坛第十五期 | 财新传媒创始人胡舒立：新闻付费阅读". mp.weixin.qq.com. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  20. ↑ "胡舒立："财新通"个人付费用户超20万 将推多种方式降低阅读门槛_证券时报网". kuaixun.stcn.com. Archived from the original on 26 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  21. ↑ Bandurski, David (19 November 2018). "Tougher Days Loom for "Self-Media"". China Media Project. Archived from the original on 30 November 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  22. ↑ Turvill, William (10 June 2022). "Ranked: The world's top ten non-English digital news subscriptions". Press Gazette. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  23. ↑ "Caixin Media Hits Paid Readership Milestone - Caixin Global". caixinglobal.com. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  24. ↑ "Caixin's Paid Subscriptions Surpass One Million, Showing Stable Growth in Digital Subscriptions - Caixin Global". caixinglobal.com. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  25. ↑ Editorial Board (9 March 2016). "Caixin Media's display of courage against China's censors". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 11 November 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  26. 1 2 Forsythe, Michael (8 March 2016). "Chinese Publication, Censored by Government, Exposes Article's Removal". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  27. ↑ "Police harassment of Chinese reporter sparks anger and apology". Reuters. 21 November 2018. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  28. ↑ "Police sorry after reporter's 'prostitution bust' hotel room inspection". South China Morning Post. 20 November 2018. Archived from the original on 22 May 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  29. ↑ "Chinese reporter wins rare police apology for harassment". AP NEWS. 22 November 2018. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  30. ↑ Fifield, Anna; Li, Lyric. "Chinese families should be sweeping graves now. But thousands still haven't buried their dead". The Washington Post. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  31. ↑ "Urns in Wuhan Prompt New Questions of Virus's Toll - Bloomberg L.P." bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 27 March 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  32. ↑ "Report of Urns in Wuhan Raises Questions About COVID-19 Death Toll". Time. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  33. ↑ Taylor, Adam. "Analysis | China's investigative journalists offer a fraught glimpse behind Beijing's coronavirus propaganda". The Washington Post. Retrieved 16 June 2020. Officially, the death toll in Wuhan has stalled at a little over 2,500, a detail repeatedly highlighted by China's Foreign Ministry. But something didn't add up, Caixin noted: One local crematorium in the city was operating for 19 hours a day and in just two days, 5,000 urns were delivered to the establishment.
  34. ↑ "Estimates Show Wuhan Death Toll Far Higher Than Official Figure". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  35. ↑ Bao, Zhiming; Walsh, Matthew (30 March 2020). "In Virus-Ravaged Wuhan, Hours-Long Queues to Collect the Ashes of the Dead - Caixin Global". Caixin Global. Archived from the original on 31 March 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  36. ↑ China Cuts Caixin From Approved Media, Curbing Influence, Bloomberg News, 21 Oct 2021
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