China keen for copyright cooperation with famous foreign magazines
15/5/2007 16:16
Many world-famous magazines, such as "Newsweek", "Elle" and "Marie
Claire" now appear on newsstands on Chinese streets -- in Chinese.
The
Chinese versions of these magazines are the result of copyright cooperation
between foreign publishers and local market players.
Chinese publishers have
established copyright cooperation with 54 foreign magazines and will continue to
push for such ties, the head of China's press watchdog said in Beijing yesterday
at the ongoing 36th World Magazine Congress (WMC).
Among the 54 co-published
magazines, 28 are about science and technology, one about business, and the
other 25 fall into the category of fashion and life, said Liu Binjie, head of
the General Administration of Press and Publications.
The foreign publishers
in cooperation deals include some of the big names such as France's Hachette
Filippacchi Media, US publishers IDG Group and Hearst Corporation, and
McGraw-Hill, he said.
"Cooperation is of great benefit to the domestic
publishing industry," said a market analyst. "The influx of world-famous
magazines not only adds variety to the domestic periodical market, but also
brings in timely first-hand information and rich advertising resources."
"The
Chinese government values cooperation in the publishing industry and will create
more opportunities for foreign magazines to flourish on Chinese soil," Liu
said.
China will further open the domestic market and welcome foreign
competition, Liu said.
But participants attending the ongoing 36th WMC felt
China was too timid about opening its publishing market.
"The Chinese
magazine market is not entirely open for foreign investors. We are not able to
own the magazine title like we do in other countries," Thomas Mehls, CEO of
Germany's Motor-Press International, told Xinhua at the congress.
In China,
foreign publishers are still forbidden from operating publications on their own.
They are obliged to cooperate with Chinese counterparts.
"We all want China
to open up more, but 20 years of experience tells us that it is a step-by-step
process, so we just have to be patient," said P. Victor Visor, CEO of Hachette
Filippacchi's Great China, Southeast Asia & Australia division.
Xinhua
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