Launched on Jan 1, 1997 by People's Daily -- one of the world's top 10 newspapers -- the website has transformed into one of the largest comprehensive media on the Internet.
People's Daily Online -- http://www.people.com.cn -- releases news, covering various fields including politics, economy, society and culture, in real time and round-the-clock with the support of the newspaper's more than 70 branches home and abroad.
Apart from pictures and text numbering up to 10,000 news items per day, the website uses animation, audio and video clips, the BBS forum, blog, podcast and webcast that has boosted its daily page-view to chart as much as 200 million.
To appeal to the young audience who surf the internet by cellphones, it has also combined news releases with games and working with businesses to offer 'trendies' like E-book.
Besides the Chinese version (traditional and modern Chinese), the website offers six foreign languages -- English, Japanese, French, Spanish, Russian and Arabic.
More could be added over time as PD Online president He Jiazheng said it hoped to have more languages, when asked if the website would consider having Bahasa Melayu.
"We will need time but we hope one day, we will have this language," he told participants of the just-concluded China-Asean Media Cooperation Seminar, the fourth since its launch in 2002, and hosted by People's Daily.
We had the chance to visit the place last Thursday, Narch 25.
After a decade of existence, the website has become an important window to enable international readers to understand and take a glimpse of China.
But, what's more crucial is that its success story has provided lessons on how new and traditional media could co-exist and supplement one another.
He said the rapid growth of new media had put tremendous pressure on, and poses great challenges to, the traditional media.
"Statistics from the World Association of Newspapers show, in 2009, 507 newspapers in the US saw drastic decreases in circulation.
"The Japanese newspaper, Asahi Shimbun, the world's second biggest newspaper, was suffering from its first deficit in 130 years since the start of publication.
"And in France, 154 out of every 1,000 French citizens buy newspapers regularly.
"The total revenue of The New York Times dipped 11.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2009 to US$680 million," he said.
Meanwhile, its Internet advertisement revenue rose 10.6 per cent to US$90.6 million, accounting for 23 per cent of all its advertisement revenue, he said.
This, he said, showed that along with the challenges, the media found even more opportunities and new sources of revenue.
With publication having begun in June 1948 and a current circulation of three million, People's Daily is among the most influential and authoritative newspapers in China. According to UNESCO, it takes its place among the world's top 10.
He said, while the 14-year-old website depended on the People's Daily group financial support in its early years, it had recorded profit over the last two years and "made some contribution to the group" .
Its well-equipped audio-visual studio for live internet coverage was built, using its own revenue.
"From this year, we expect business to be better," he said.
Much of the success hinged on the dedication of its 600-odd staff, most of whom are young and versatile for multi-tasking.
Mugshot photographs of the staff, with the words: "Why Can't We Be Number 1?" adorned one of the hallway walls of the old printing press building which was refurbished into a digitalised news operation centre.
On another strategic point was a picture of Chinese President Hu Jintao communicating with netizens when he went to PD Online on June 20, 2008.
The website is a perfect model for the theme, 'New Media Development', chosen for the seminar which is held every two years.
Asean Secretariat assistant director Linda Lee said, with new technology for mobile phones and the internet, the spread of new media was likely to increase, enhancing greater interactivity.
"In Asean, we have a relatively young population - about half of the 580 million people. The new media -- blogging, social networks, video sharing, podcasting etc -- may appeal more to them than traditional media," she said.
It was good news for the Asean delegates when a senior official in charge of the country's press policy assured them that China was prepared to discuss viable media projects to strengthen cooperation with the 10 member-grouping.
Liu Yunshan, head of publicity department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said the mechanism for such ventures were institutionalised through the China-Asean Media Cooperation Seminar.
"There is big potential for us to strengthen cooperation, particularly in media technology. What is important is to identify good projects and ensure their efficiency," he said.
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