Xiaohongmao (Little Red Cap), a publication distribution company dominated by the Beijing Youth Daily, has been authorized to run the nationwide wholesale and retail, the company said in Beijing Wednesday.

The new publication distribution network union has 29 member newspapers and distribution companies with daily circulation of 15 million and nearly 100,000 employees. The annual advertisement revenue of the union is nearly 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion), half of the total earned by all newspapers.

China still has not totally opened its publishing and distribution markets to overseas investment. The market is gradually opening to foreign investment, according to China's State Administration of Press and Publication.

(Xinhua News Agency August 19, 2004)