Top editor leaves China's boldest news magazine

[November 09, 2009]  BEIJING (AP) -- The founder and editor-in-chief of Caijing, China's boldest financial news magazine, resigned Monday amid friction with the magazine's publisher, a colleague said.

Two people who work at the 11-year-old financial news magazine said on condition of anonymity that Hu Shuli left the magazine and was likely to take up a post at Zhongshan University in Guangzhou, a bustling city in southern China close to Hong Kong.

One of the employees said Hu and managing editor Wang Shuo both left due to editorial differences with the magazine's publisher, Hong Kong-listed SEEC Media Group.

Hu's colleagues did not want to be named because they said they were not authorized to announce the resignations.

Journalists at Caijing are known for pushing boundaries with the country's strict censors and chasing stories that could embarrass the government, such as corruption, pollution and public health scares, a boldness unusual in the mainland press.

It was not immediately clear whether the magazine would continue to publish under new editorial leadership. Its disappearance could set back efforts to establish a free press in China.

Calls to SEEC's Beijing office rang unanswered Monday.

The uncertainty surrounding Caijing has raised questions about the future of a partnership between it and Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li that is expected to launch an English-language financial news service focused on China next year.

Cai Business Indepth Ltd., the Hong Kong-based company set up to run the service, did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment.

Rumors of problems at Caijing have been swirling for months. The magazine's general manager and 60 to 70 employees from the business department resigned last month, reportedly in a show of support for Hu amid ongoing negotiations with SEEC over editorial and financial control.

[Associated Press; By ALEXA OLESEN]

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