Beijing launches English weekly

BEIJING: An English-language weekly newspaper - Beijing Today - has been launched by the Beijing Youth Daily publishing group, targeting foreigners who are either residing or travelling in the Chinese capital. The city's mayor, Liu Qu, said the paper would help publicise Beijing's rapid progress to foreign enterprises and travellers in the city. Media observers said the paper was launched to fill the gap between two other English-language publications, China Daily and the monthly Welcome to Beijing. Said Zenith Beijing research director Zoe Tan: "For a weekly magazine to be presented like a daily is a problem. A weekly format should include a lot more in-depth reviews since it has more time to digest what happens day-to-day. The stories covered are pretty much what readers find in China Daily." Beijing Today deputy chief editor He Ping Ping said advertising would form the main revenue stream. "Some of our clients are advertisers in Beijing Youth Daily and they would like to have advertising in English." Media agencies have their doubts about the paper's advertising appeal. "Ninety-nine per cent of the clients in China are selling products to the local Chinese consumers," said Tan. "It is likely to interest vendors who products appeal to consumers not defined by the spoken language, for example technology products or services that are likely to be of interest to expats or transients such as travel services, bars and restaurants. But these are the same categories that China Daily goes after."

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