The mainland-licensed publication's total qualified circulation stood at 91,365 copies by December 2001, according to BPA.
BusinessWeek Asia vice-president and managing director, Alan Lammin, credited growing newsstand sales, as a key factor behind the latest gains.
Since the last BPA audit, newsstand sales have climbed by seven per cent and paid subscriptions have increased by 54 per cent.
"What we're seeing is a window of opportunity presented to BusinessWeek in the post-WTO entry period, Lammin said of the title, which was launched in December 1986 in a cooperative venture with China's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation.
Where rival titles have yet to gain a China publishing licence, BusinessWeek's licensed status has allowed it to produce a dedicated China read as well as distribute through newsstands. Newsstand sales now accounted for between 35 and 40 per cent of the title's total China volume.
The goal will be to break through the 100,000 mark by year end. In line with this target, BusinessWeek is considering going from a monthly to bi-weekly or increasing the size of the magazine by early next year. "Increasing the frequency would be a natural evolution of growth. We are now reaching critical mass as we're selling out on the advertising front. So we may have to either expand the magazine's pages or review frequency, Lammin added.
The planned frequency rise follows on this year's introduction of editorial sourced in China. Until the end of last year, the title carried stories translated from the English edition.
