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Chinese weeklies heat up competitive market
More immigration from Mainland China leads to
flurry of new titles
An influx of weekly Chinese newspapers is saturating a local
market already crowded by three dailies.
The weekly competitors are starting up to appeal to a tide of
immigrants from Mainland China.
About 40,000 people have moved to Canada from the People's
Republic of China in the last four years. Of them, 10,000 arrived in Vancouver,
said Zai-Xin Ma, president of Dawa Business Press, the newest
Chinese-language weekly.
"It was a hard year for the paper, but there is some
success," he said.
Next month marks the one-year anniversary of his free paper,
which covers all news but focuses on business and economics. Ma counts among his
greatest successes the fact the paper recently broke even and circulation has
grown to 20,000.
His competition in this market includes two other local
Chinese-language weeklies, China Journal and Global Chinese Press.
In July, the two papers, which used to be published as one,
split and are now under separate ownership.
Jane Zhang, president of Global Chinese Press,
said her paper hopes to gain an edge by balancing local, national and
international coverage.
Two months ago the paper opened an office in Calgary to add to
its 15-person Vancouver headquarters and five-employee office in Toronto. In
total, the paper, which costs $0.25 per copy, has 20 staff and national
circulation of 30,000, Zhang said.
She said the weekly editions of the Chinese-language daily
newspapers -- Ming Pao Daily, Sing Tao Daily and World Journal
-- are her main competition.
Zhang added that there are about 10 weekly Chinese-language
newspapers in the Lower Mainland. But many are small and specific, focusing on
such issues as health or education.
Zhang raised funds from silent business partners and started Global
Chinese Press and China Journal in 2000, and then sold China
Journal to a partner in July of 2002 to concentrate on GCP.
Ma used to work as chief editor of China Journal. He
left the company just over a year ago and started his own publication.
GCP is published on Friday, which is why Ma opted to
produce his paper on Saturday.
"It's the day most people have off and go shopping,"
he said.
Ma said his paper assumed a focus on business and economics to
differentiate itself from the other Chinese-language newspapers. Its content
includes local, national and international stories.
On the Chinese-language daily newspaper scene, Ming Pao
Daily, Sing Tao Daily and World Journal continue to battle it
out for market share.
Ming Pao held the top spot during the 1990s when it
positioned itself as required reading for the wealthy, educated immigrants from
Hong Kong.
But today, Sing Tao is gaining ground as it attempts to
reach out to the growing number of less-affluent immigrants from Mainland China.
Ma said his paper, which has five full-time and six part-time
staff, also targets new immigrants from PRC. Zhang said her paper does the same.
"When they come we give them basic knowledge about Canada
and what businesses are doing," Ma said.
Zhang, who started the company with one part-time editor, said
she hopes to grow her paper in the coming years by moving to twice weekly
publication and opening additional offices across Canada. -
by Tracy Tjaden
Business
in Vancouver Nov 5-11, 2002
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