The ''Hong Kong Commercial Daily'' () (HKCD) is a Chinese state-owned newspaper, published in

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper format), ta ...

format in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and dubbed “China’s international media window” by the central government.Former editor at Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing Commercial Daily newspaper seeks asylum in US
HKFP, 10 Feb 2017 Established in 1952, it was the first financial newspaper in the Chinese language. It is one of the few newspapers authorized by the

Hong Kong SAR Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

government to publicize legal announcements, and also the only Hong Kong newspaper allowed to be circulated freely in mainland China. It is controlled by the

Hong Kong Liaison Office The Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (; abbr. LOCPG or 香港中聯辦) is the agency that represents the Chinese Central People's Government in Hong Kong. It replaced the New Ch ...

and has a branch office in Shenzhen.

History

The ''HKCD'' was founded on October 11, 1952, at a price of 10 HK cents. It's stated aim was to serve as the voice of the local Hong Kong commerce with a focus on worldwide economies especially in Hong Kong and China. It also covered sports and on weekends offered columns and serialized short stories with pictures. Early coverage of horse and dog racing was curtailed by the government in the early 70s, so as not to promote gambling, leading to a severe decline in circulation. In December 1989, a majority shareholding was acquired by the Joint Publishing (HK) Company Limited (the joint company of The Commercial Press (H.K.) Ltd, Chung Hwa Book Co., and Joint Publishing) for HK$160 million. In 1995, ''HKCD'' launched a mainland edition in cooperation with mainland publishing companies. Since 1996, an online version has been available. In May 2005, the paper was upgraded priced at HK$3 in Hong Kong and overseas while in Mainland China it sold for 3 yuan within Guangdong Province and 5 yuan in other provinces. The new version of the paper emphasizes business news from Hong Kong and the

Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region (PRD; ; pt, Delta do Rio das Pérolas (DRP)) is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Mac ...

, along with some sports coverage. In 2015, assistant editor-in-chief Long Zhenyang was placed under "political measures" for comments he made during the

2014 Hong Kong protests A series of sit-in street protests, often called the Umbrella Revolution and sometimes used interchangeably with Umbrella Movement, or Occupy Movement, occurred in Hong Kong from 26 September to 15 December 2014. The protests began after ...

and regarding the demolition of churches in

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

. For the following year, he did not work as an editor but was allowed to continue writing, and in February 2016 resigned and sought

political asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another enti ...

in the United States, comparing the sociopolitical climate in Chinese politics to the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

, and saying that "All hope for social reform and reforms to China’s political system, have now been extinguished."

A typical edition contains about 30 pages. The largest sections are:

News

*News highlight

*China New

*Hong Kong New

*World New

Business

*The Stock and Property Markets of Chin

*Analysis of oil prices, stock markets in Hong Kong, China and the world *Public announcements and disclosure of revenue of companies in Hong Kong and China

Property

*Analysis of the property market and investment opportunities in Hong Kong and China *Latest Development of Chinese Province

Special features

* Interviews: Special Features on Successful and outstanding businessmen in Hong Kong and China

Sports

Horse Racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

news * World

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

news

Leisure

*Food and restaurants *Travel in China *Book review

Technology

*A special issue called '' I.T.Net '' is published every Wednesday along with the newspaper.

Editor

Cheng Xi Tian (陳鍚添)

Cheng Xi Tian is the current

chief editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the ''HKCD''. Cheng was born on 8 February 1941 in Shanghai. Before he became the Chief Editor and Deputy of the ''HKCD'', Cheng had been the editor of Shenzhen Publishing Group. At present, he is also a part-time professor in

Renmin University of China The Renmin University of China (RUC; ) is a national key public research university in Beijing, China. The university is affiliated to the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry and the Beijing Municipal People's Government. RUC ...

(RUC) (中國人民大學) and

Wuhan University Wuhan University (WHU; ) is a public research university in Wuhan, Hubei. The university is sponsored by the Ministry of Education. Wuhan university was founded as one of the four elite universities in the early republican period of China and i ...

(WHU) (武漢大學). He is a graduate from journalism of

in 1966 and has been working in the field of journalism for more than thirty years. Since he has written a number of newsletters, argumentative writings, reports, biography and prose etc., he was given the title "Unique Journalist" by

Deng Xiao Ping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CC ...

(鄧小平) in 1992. On 26 March 1992, Cheng's Chinese publication 《东方风来满眼春》 highlighted the success of his career. This publication has won many awards in the press media of mainland China, e.g. "The first award of Chinese News" (中國新聞獎一等獎), "Special prize of Guangdong News" (廣東新聞獎特別獎), etc. In 2000, he was awarded the most honorable prize in the press in mainland (韜奮新聞獎).

Board

The paper is state-owned, controlled by the Liaison Office of the Central Government. Chairman and CEO

Huang Yang Lue (黃揚略)

Mr Huang Yang Lue is currently the chairman of the board of directors as well as the CEO of The HKCD. He was born in Suwen, Guangdong, and graduated from

Zhongshan University Sun Yat-sen University (, abbreviated SYSU and colloquially known in Chinese as Zhongda), also known as Zhongshan University, is a national key public research university located in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. It was founded in 1924 by and nam ...

(中山大學)in 1982. Immediately after his graduation, he entered the Xinhua News Agency in the Guangdong branch, where he worked as a reporter, assistant director and vice-president. He also is a part-time Professor at the Business School of

Jinan University Jinan University (JNU, ) is a public research university based in Guangzhou, China. "Jinan" literally means "reaching southward", indicating the university's original mission to disseminate Chinese learning and culture from North to South when ...

(暨南大學). In September 2002, he was appointed head of the Shenzhen News Grou

Advisory board

There are more than 50 contributing advisors of the ''HKCD''. For example: Dr.

Tsang Hin Chi Tsang Hin-chi, (; 2 February 1934 – 20 September 2019) was a Hong Kong entrepreneur and politician. He was the founder and president of the Goldlion Group Co. Ltd. and a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC ...

(曾憲梓), Dr. Leo Lee Tung-hai( 李東海), Dr.

Vincent Lo Hong-sui Vincent Lo Hong-shui, GBM, GBS, JP (; born 18 April 1948) is the chairman of Hong Kong-based Shui On Group, a building-materials and construction firm. He graduated from the University of New South Wales, Australia, in 1969. Upon returning ...

(羅康瑞), Dr. Robin Chan Yau-hing (陳有慶), Mr.

Timothy Fok Tsun-ting Timothy Fok Tsun-ting (born 14 February 1946), GBS, JP, the eldest son of Henry Fok, is the President of the Hong Kong Football Association. He formerly represented the Sports, Performing Arts, Culture and Publication functional constituency ...

(霍震霆)and Mr. Chan Wing-kee (陳永棋) .

Readership

Target reader groups

The target reader groups include investors and business executives in both China and Hong Kong, mainly from the Pearl River Delta and especially the

Special Economic Zones A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

. Employees of some Hong Kong

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

which have based their businesses in mainland China, and

politically Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

-minded individuals with an interest in the HKSAR-

PRC China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

relation, are also an important target group. Its worldwide readership includes people from

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, Singapore, the US, Canada, Australia, UK, Germany, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, Indonesia (starts 28 Sep 2009, officially issued), etc..

Ranking by readers

According to a survey by the Department of Journalism and Communication,

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is the territory's second-oldest university an ...

, the credibility of HKCD is ranked 23rd among the media (for example, newspapers and magazines) in Hong Kong, scoring 4.9, while the most credible is the

Hong Kong Economic Journal The ''Hong Kong Economic Journal'' (HKEJ). is a Chinese-language daily newspaper published in Hong Kong by the Shun Po Co., Ltd.. Available in both Hong Kong and Macau, the newspaper mainly focuses on economic news and other related, usuall ...

(scoring 7.38).

Readers' perception

RTHK

and Breakthroug

have conducted surveys and questionnaires for Hong Kong readers and journalists in Year 1998 and 2001 respectively. The findings reflect the credibility, political stance and popularity of a number of Hong Kong newspaper among the public. The result of the surveys has been shown in the diagram.

Publication

Installments

In addition to reporting up-to-date business and financial issues, it also contains intellectual Serial (literature), serials. For example, many of the martial arts novels written by Jinyong(also known as ''Louis Cha'') from the 1950s like "''

Sword Stained With Royal Blood ''Sword Stained with Royal Blood'' is a wuxia novel by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). It was first serialised in the Hong Kong newspaper '' Hong Kong Commercial Daily'' between 1 January 1956 and 31 December 1956.The date conforms to the data published ...

''"《碧血劍》in 1956, ''

The Legend of the Condor Heroes ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes'' is a wuxia novel by Chinese writer Jin Yong (Louis Cha). It is the first part of the '' Condor Trilogy'' and is followed by '' The Return of the Condor Heroes'' and '' The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber''. I ...

''"《射鵰英雄傳》in 1957 etc, were published as installments in the ''Hong Kong Commercial Daily''.

Books

''HKCD'' also publishes various kinds of books, while most are in Chinese, including "''The Last episode of Ten Colonels''"《十大元帥大結局》、"''The Mystery of Xiaoshan''"《韶山之謎》、"''The Last 28 days of Cultural Revolution''"《文革最后的28天》、"''Horror and Anti-horror''"《恐怖與反恐怖》、"''Human and Ghost''"《人鬼神》、"''Force of China''"《中國力量》. Many are on current political and economic issues. For its 30th anniversary in 1982 it published a book called "Knowledge of living" with useful information on health care, electrical appliances and useful telephone numbers in Hong Kong and Guangzhou etc.. Some feature stories and articles in the newspaper are later collected and published as books.

Website

The ''HKCD'' website (香港商報電子版-中國�

ref> was launched in 1996. It is written in both

Traditional Chinese A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

and

Simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters used in mainland China, Malaysia and Singapore, as prescribed by the ''Table of General Standard Chinese Characters''. Along with traditional Chinese characters, they are one o ...

. The news is updated at midnight, before publication of the paper. People from all over the world can access freely the online news about Hong Kong, Mainland China and the world. Past news and features are accessible through a searchable archive.

References

External links

Official site with updated news and stock market data

Notes and references

*''Hong Kong Commercial Daily'' icroform(香港商報 ��微資料. Hong Kong Special Collection, Main Library of University of Hong Kong, 1952. *''金庸茶館

* RTHK

*''Hong Kong Commercial Daily''(香港商報電子版-中國�

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hong Kong Commercial Daily Business newspapers published in Hong Kong Chinese-language newspapers published in Hong Kong Newspapers established in 1952 Propaganda newspapers and magazines State media Chinese propaganda organisations 1952 establishments in Hong Kong