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US-China relations
TechTech Trends

China Computerworld, the only official Sino-US joint publication, ceases operation amid financial losses

  • China Computerworld was created in 1980 by US media firm IDG and China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
  • At least 40 employees have not been paid since February, and about 20 are considering legal actions, according to an employee

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Chinese people surf the web at an internet cafe in Beijing’s university district in 2003. China Computerworld, a decades-old magazine jointly launched by a US media firm and the Chinese government, announced it is ceasing operations. Photo: EPA
Jiaxing Li

China Computerworld (CCW), the only official Sino-US joint-venture magazine on the mainland and once a must-read for China’s computer enthusiasts, is ceasing operations amid severe financial losses, its publisher said on Wednesday.

Created in 1980 by US media and marketing firm International Data Group (IDG) and China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to educate the Chinese public about computer science, CCW stood out as an exception to China’s general ban on foreign ownership in domestic media.

CCW published its final print edition last June, but has so far maintained a website and social media accounts. But on Wednesday, it told employees that the company had run out of cash to pay salaries and other operation costs, according to an internal staff notice seen by the Post and confirmed by two employees.

A blog post by China Computerworld on Chinese social media platform Weibo announcing that the publication is ceasing operations. Photo: Screenshot
A blog post by China Computerworld on Chinese social media platform Weibo announcing that the publication is ceasing operations. Photo: Screenshot

At least 40 employees have not been paid since February, and about 20 are considering legal actions against the company, according to an employee who declined to be named because they are currently in labour arbitration with CCW.

IDG and China’s state-owned investment firm have been selling their shares in CCW since 2020, after the publication reported a 8.5 million yuan (US$1.3 million) loss the year before.

CCW was a pioneer in China’s news industry, having made a name for its focus on the country’s booming internet sector. It was the first newspaper in mainland China that operated solely itself without state funding, after the government reforms that began in 1978.

The publication also marked the first Chinese venture of IDG, a multibillion-dollar publisher of more than 200 magazines and books. The firm later published the Chinese-language editions of several popular US magazines, including Cosmopolitan, GQ and Harper’s Bazaar.

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