China to allow legal gambling on horses
for first time since 1949. Times
China confiscates 149 mln publications in 2007.
Guardian, UK
Chinese authorities confiscated nearly 149 million magazines, video disks and
other publications in 2007 for being pornographic, pirated or otherwise unauthorised, the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday.
China keeps a tight rein on broadcasting, publishing and news media, but that
has not prevented the growth of a thriving black market for all sorts of
publications, including pirated books, DVDs and software.
About 136 million of the confiscated items were pirated, while close to 4
million were pornographic and nearly 3.4 million were smuggled, Xinhua reported,
citing the National Office for Cleaning Up Pornography and Fighting Illegal
Publications.
It said that a recent campaign to fight "harmful" information online had led to
the closure of 44,000 China-based pornographic Web sites and 14,000 such sites
run by people outside China.
Beijing has been tightening its grip over what it considers "vulgar"
entertainment.
Last week it ordered music and video producers to scour their inventories for
risque materials and placed restrictions on Internet sites that allow users to
upload video or audio. (Reporting by Jason Subler; editing by Roger Crabb)
China's radio, TV, film industry's revenue rises sharply in 2006
XInhua News, June 19,
2007 - The total revenue of China's radio,TV and film industry
increased 18 percent to 110 billion yuan (about 14.4 billion U.S.
dollars) in 2006, said a report released by the State Administration
of Radio, Film and Television on Tuesday. The revenue of the radio and
TV sector rose 17 percent, while that of the film sector grew 19
percent, setting a new record, according to the report. The number of
China-made movies reached 330 in 2006, up 27 percent over the previous
year. And China produced 82,300 minutes of cartoons, nearly double the
2005 volume, said the report. (Click
for full report.)
Christina
Aguilera breaks China
Ice festival
starts in Harbin
The
Rolling Stones to make China debut in April Xinhua News,
Mar. 16, 2006 - The Rolling Stones will make their
first ever visit to China to perform in Shanghai on April 8.
The rock greats will play at Shanghai Grand Stage, which has
more than 8,500 seats. The Shanghai performance is produced
by WPC Piecemeal Inc., Concert Productions International and
The Next Adventure, promoted locally by Emma Entertainment
and sponsored by Deutsche Bank. Jonathan Krane, CEO of Emma
Entertainment, says that the Shanghai concert is part of the
Rolling Stones' "bigger bang" world tour. The tour opened in
Boston in August 2005 and has already attracted more than
1.5 million fans in the United States. The Rolling Stones
are among the better known Western rock acts in China. "It's
better late than never", says Li Yi, a 30-year-old Shanghai
local. "Many young Chinese love to listen to a lot of Rock
and Roll music, which has been synonymous with a rebellious
attitude." Ticket prices of the Rolling Stone's
Shanghai concert range from 300 yuan (37.5 U.S. dollars) to
3,000 yuan (375 U.S. dollars).
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