Three state-owned textbook publishers and two other companies have merged to form a new Chinese publishing group. The move is the latest to reform the country's state-owned publication business.
The new company, China Education Publishing & Media Group Ltd, was formed from the People's Education Press, the Higher Education Press, and the Language and Liberation Press - three major publishers of textbooks and reference books for schools and colleges - as well as the China Education Publications Import & Export Corp. and China Educational Instrument & Equipment Corp.
China's state-owned publishing houses were initially run as non-profit public undertakings. Since 2009, the government has restructured small publishing houses into big corporations and introduced corporate governance to sharpen their competitive edge. Of 528 state-owned publishing houses, 435 had undergone restructuring by November. The new company is expected to become a leading player in the country's publishing market, a modern competitive corporation with international influence.
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