China updates official news sources list to tighten information oversight

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the country's top internet regulator, published an updated list on Wednesday of 1,358 internet news services, stating that information service providers can only reprint news from these sources.

The list arrives amid a regulatory crackdown on a range of industries from Chinese authorities, including the media sector.

The list contains quadruple the number of outlets compared with an earlier version of the list from 2016, and includes more public and social media accounts, the CAC noted in its initial announcement.

The regulator added that internet news services that reprint news information must follow the latest version of the list. Outlets that do not abide by the rules will face punishment.

This month China's state planner said it was halting the investment of "non-public" capital into a variety of publishing activities, including live broadcasts, news-gathering, editing and broadcasting entities and the operation of news.

Non-public capital cannot be involved in the introduction of news released by overseas entities or summits and award selection activities in the field of news and public opinion, the NDRC added.