New English-language newspaper starts with aim to help China's image overseas

The launch of the Global Times' English edition gave the mainland its second national English-language daily newspaper yesterday as the authorities push forward China's drive to overhaul its international image.

Managed under the Communist Party's mouthpiece, the People's Daily, the English Global Times is expected to compete with the China Daily, another state newspaper that began publishing in 1981.

It vowed on its editorial page to 'be a vital new medium affording international readers the opportunity to discover and understand China, while allowing Chinese to express themselves to the world'.

Established in 1993, the Chinese-language Global Times has become controversial in recent years for its hardline stance and criticism of western countries on world affairs. It is popular among the growing number of nationalists on the mainland.

Hu Xijin, the Global Times' editor-in-chief, said he hoped to make the newspaper profitable within five years by 'satisfying English readers' demand' and promised to 'try our best' to 'carry on the traditions of the Chinese edition: presenting news from a Chinese perspective, in a fair, insightful and courageous manner'.

'The two editions will have the same principles and style, and we will express our opinions frankly through objective reporting, without dodging the sensitive issues,' Hu said.

'But we can't possibly get any tolerance or exception from the media authorities, just like other media in China,' he added, referring to such sensitive issues as Tibet and June 4, which are hot topics in the international media but rarely mentioned in the strictly censored Chinese media.