The Government has stopped the mandatory subscriptions of the publications and, more recently, indicated that it would give the newspapers a freer hand in managing themselves.
Another potential implication of the Government's renewed attempts to introduce change in the country's newspaper industry is the suggestion that it may reduce subsidies.
However, few observers hold out any hope that the strict ideological control curently imposed on the newspaper industry is likely to change.
The restructuring mirrors the changes taking place in other media, most notably in the television industry.
Media agencies said the authorities wanted to make newspapers fight for readers with better-quality content.
Quinn Taw, MindShare Beijing managing director, said: "With television improving its programming, the Government sees something that needs to be reformed because newspapers are beginning to become irrelevant."
OMD China managing director Rob Fitzgerald said that newspapers are currently more economic and business oriented.
"The question is whether a bumper harvest in Hubei province is going to be of interest to the majority of readers in Shanghai," he said.
Fitzgerald added that newspapers would have to improve their design and layout but, more importantly, give readers relevant content if they wanted to shed their conservative image.
ZenithOptimedia Shanghai vice-president of strategic resources Zoe Tan said the restructuring follows the redefining of journalism.
While ideological restrictions will remain, "party leaders do not always have to be featured on the front page, unless they have interesting things to say". The Government is moving in the right direction, Tan said.