Listing the whole thing in China

Although there appear to be a number of Chinese media companies listed both in China and outside, a closer examination will generally reveal that what has been listed is not the whole business. The publications themselves and associated editorial operations have typically been excluded. What has been listed is the commercial arm of the business. A typical example of this is SEEC Media in Hong Kong, the ad sales division of the publishers of Caijing magazine. The magazine itself, though, is officially published and produced by a different, Beijing-based company.

That may be about to change. Zero2IPO picks up a China Daily story about the "State-owned Liaoning Publishing and Media Company Limited [which] was approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission on Tuesday for an A-share initial public offering". This, the article says, will make it "China's first wholly listed publication company, which will include both its editorial and operational business in the listing entity".