Beijing: In a massive restructuring of the official media in China, nearly half of the Communist Party and Government-run newspapers have been asked to stop publication across the country, a report said today (Nov 24).

China's efforts to reform and trim down its State newspapers have entered a crucial phase, with 673 out of 1,452 party and Government newspapers having been suspended from publication, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

All the 1,452 papers have been affected by the State newspaper reform, and besides those suspended for yielding no profits, 87 have been made free publications.

The head of the Publicity Department of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Liu Yunshan said that the CPC and Government's efforts to rectify the management of State newspapers have paid off.

He acknowledged that the over four-month endeavour to stop the mandatory subscription to party and Government newspapers, which is aimed at relieving the financial burden of farmers and units at the grass-roots level, has been widely welcomed by cadres and people nationwide.

PTI