Hong Kong Economic Journal
Encyclopedia
The Hong Kong Economic Journal (HKEJ, Chinese
:信報財經新聞 Pinyin
: Xìnbào Cáijīng Xīnwén, abbrev. 信報 Pinyin
: Xìnbào) is a Chinese language
daily newspaper
published in Hong Kong
by the Shun Po Co., Ltd. Available in both Hong Kong and Macau
, the newspaper mainly focuses on economic news and other related issues. The newsjournal is also available to some air passengers - those travelling to the United States, Canada, and Europe. It is authorised by the Hong Kong government to publish announcements related to some law issues.
during the 1960s and later as an assistant editor for the evening version of Ming Pao -- and Law Chi-Ping (羅治平 pinyin: Luó ZhìPíng) -- who withdrew his shares later. Together they saw the possibility of developing an economic journal for the Hong Kong public in the early 70s (though some say that it was Lok Yau-Mui ((駱友梅)(sister of Felix Lok Ying-kwan (駱應鈞 pinyin: Luò YìngJūn)), his wife, and not Law Chi-Ping who was the true co-founder) and the newspaper was first published on 3 July 1973.
Unfortunately, shortly after the publication of newspaper, the Hong Kong stock market experienced the first historical huge fall as a result of the then global oil crisis. Nonetheless, the Hong Kong economy revived in 1976 and the newspaper eventually became one of the most influential newspapers in the Chinese media world.
Today the Journal is run by its current director Cho Chi-ming (曹志明; pen name: 曹仁超, Yan Chiu), who writes a daily editorial column called "Investor's Diary 投資者日記", and Joy Shan Lam-Kung (孔林在山), daughter of Mr. Lam.
The online version of the "Hong Kong Economic Journal" was launched in 2008.
The 'Investment' part contains:
The 'Technology' part includes:
The "Supplementary" part consists of:
The " Editorial" part contains:
Professionals involved in economics also publish some of their articles in the Journal to express their views on the economy and related current events.
, objective, fair and well-balanced among the Hong Kong newspapers, since the editors are quite outspoken and bold to criticize the HKSAR
and the Chinese central government in the 'Editorial' section. The editors usually hold skeptical views on government interventions and policies, reflecting their affirmation towards the Chicago school
view of economics
. According to a survey conducted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong
in 2001, the Hong Kong Economic Journal as well as Ming Pao were regarded as the newspapers with the highest degree of credibility in Hong Kong.
As The HK Economic Journal mainly focuses on reporting government policies and financial affairs, soft news plays a minor role in it. The style it adopts is very different from other local newspapers in Hong Kong, such as Apple Daily
, Oriental Daily News
, etc., which stress their 'Entertainment' parts and sensationalize or exaggerate the harder news to promote sales. Unlike these tabloid-like newspapers, the HKEJ reports its news mainly by words, with few graphics. Detailed graphs showing the changes in the stock market are displayed precisely. Advertisements or story-like news are not found in the front cover. Due to all these elements, the Journal simply does not sell as well as these other 'popular' local newspapers.
One of the characteristics of the newspaper is that it mentions different business information to readers. This section can be found in the "Investment" part in which it discusses the changes in the market, no matter they are major or minor issues. For instance, it mentions some new services from the DHL Express
as well as the musical contest launched by McDonald's
. The newspaper provides their readers with much substantial information that they need.
The other characteristic of the paper is that it contains detailed information on the funding market, including interpretation on the fund market and changes in the fund market. These columns are relatively rare in other newspaper in Hong Kong.
(PRC) as many senior officials of PRC seem to regard the Journal as a true reflection of Hong Kong situation. For example, during July 2003 (when the Hong Kong people organised a protest march against the government's plan to implement Article 23
of the Basic Law
), Mr. Cho aligned himself with the democratic camp and announced that if the government implemented the Article, he would stop the publication of the Journal. The reasons he provided were that it would be dangerous for the journalists to disclose the truth and express their own thoughts if Article 23 were to be implementated. He also opposed one of the terms in the Article, which states that the police can go into anyone's house to conduct a search or freeze anyone's assets without a court-issued warrant. The next day, the government made a concession by modifying some of the terms according to Mr. Cho's suggestions.
Since 1973, Mr. Lam has been writing the Journal's Editorial (i.e. Political and Economical Review), but even before that, his insightful views on the economy were already recognized by Mr. Louis Cha (then the boss of Ming Pao) during Mr. Lam time with Ming Pao. Mr. Lam's reviews are generally accepted as being objective, well-supported by facts and full of in-depth observations. One good example is during the 1989 4 June Tiananmen Square Massacre. Regardless of the anger expressed and protests taking place in every part of Hong Kong, Mr. Lam still gave practical and rational opinions about this issue. He had suggested ways to manage and organize the funds donated by the Hong Kong citizens to the Beijing students, as the contact between the two parties was blocked by the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) at that time. This conscientious action has surely contributed to the prosperity of the HKEJ.
After Mr. Lam stopped writing the editorial and started a column for himself in 1997, the style of his writing has then become more various. Apart from giving analyses on hard news
, he also writes articles about some interesting economics theories. According to Mr. Lam, his goal is to educate the public about (and perhaps even popularize) economics issues.
The other column of note, Mr. Cho's "Investor's Diary", is a highly respected analysis of the financial market. The column covers areas such as the worldwide stock market, oil prices, different financial tools and suggestions on best-buy equities. The column differs from the typical HKEJ style in that Mr. Cho seems to be fond of writing in Cantonese slang, probably because he thinks that it is more comfortable for the public to read. In addition, Mr. Cho likes making up nicknames for the government officials, one example of which is the acronym "IQT" for the Financial Secretary Mr. Henry Tang.
(head of Hong Kong
-based telecommunication giant PCCW
) and another local mass-media company for the sale of the newspaper. On August 9, 2006 Li bought a 50% stake in the newspaper.
Source: Pinyin translated with CozyChinese.COM
Chinese character
Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...
:信報財經新聞 Pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: Xìnbào Cáijīng Xīnwén, abbrev. 信報 Pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: Xìnbào) is a Chinese language
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
daily newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
published in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
by the Shun Po Co., Ltd. Available in both Hong Kong and Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
, the newspaper mainly focuses on economic news and other related issues. The newsjournal is also available to some air passengers - those travelling to the United States, Canada, and Europe. It is authorised by the Hong Kong government to publish announcements related to some law issues.
The history, the changes, and the founder
The Hong Kong Economic Journal was founded by Lam Shan-muk (林山木) (brother-in-law of Felix Lok Ying-kwan (駱應鈞 pinyin: Luò YìngJūn)), commonly known by his pen name 林行止 (Lam Hang Chi), who first worked as a data collector for Hong Kong Ming PaoMing Pao
Ming Pao is a Chinese language newspaper published by Ming Pao Group in Hong Kong. In the 1990s, Ming Pao established four overseas branches in North America, each provides independent reporting on local news and collect local advertisements. Currently, only the two Canadian editions remain: Ming...
during the 1960s and later as an assistant editor for the evening version of Ming Pao -- and Law Chi-Ping (羅治平 pinyin: Luó ZhìPíng) -- who withdrew his shares later. Together they saw the possibility of developing an economic journal for the Hong Kong public in the early 70s (though some say that it was Lok Yau-Mui ((駱友梅)(sister of Felix Lok Ying-kwan (駱應鈞 pinyin: Luò YìngJūn)), his wife, and not Law Chi-Ping who was the true co-founder) and the newspaper was first published on 3 July 1973.
Unfortunately, shortly after the publication of newspaper, the Hong Kong stock market experienced the first historical huge fall as a result of the then global oil crisis. Nonetheless, the Hong Kong economy revived in 1976 and the newspaper eventually became one of the most influential newspapers in the Chinese media world.
Today the Journal is run by its current director Cho Chi-ming (曹志明; pen name: 曹仁超, Yan Chiu), who writes a daily editorial column called "Investor's Diary 投資者日記", and Joy Shan Lam-Kung (孔林在山), daughter of Mr. Lam.
The online version of the "Hong Kong Economic Journal" was launched in 2008.
The sections
The Journals pages are categorized into "News", "Investment", "Technology", "Editorials" and "Supplement". These sections are further divided into the following subsections—The "News" part contains:- finance and economics
- changes in stock market
- economics and business
- property markets
- political issues
- China news and international news
The 'Investment' part contains:
- company interviews
- reports on stock market price
- stock market forecast and analysis
- international investment
- supplementary information on the events launched by businesses
The 'Technology' part includes:
- application of IT in the business areas
- problems faced by companies in using IT and possible solutions provided
- media and multi-media
The "Supplementary" part consists of:
- cultures columns (movies, drama, Cantonese Opera, book review, Chinese classical music, cultural policies, city review, etc.)
- personal interviews
- columns
The " Editorial" part contains:
- China and international discussion parts
- the founder's (Mr. Lam) special column
Professionals involved in economics also publish some of their articles in the Journal to express their views on the economy and related current events.
The stance, style and characteristics
The reports and commentaries of the newspaper are always regarded as radicalRadicalization
Radicalization is the process in which an individual changes from passiveness or activism to become more revolutionary, militant or extremist. Radicalization is often associated with youth, adversity, alienation, social exclusion, poverty, or the perception of injustice to self or others.-...
, objective, fair and well-balanced among the Hong Kong newspapers, since the editors are quite outspoken and bold to criticize the HKSAR
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and the Chinese central government in the 'Editorial' section. The editors usually hold skeptical views on government interventions and policies, reflecting their affirmation towards the Chicago school
Chicago school (economics)
The Chicago school of economics describes a neoclassical school of thought within the academic community of economists, with a strong focus around the faculty of The University of Chicago, some of whom have constructed and popularized its principles...
view of economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
. According to a survey conducted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Chinese University of Hong Kong
The Chinese University of Hong Kong is a research-led university in Hong Kong.CUHK is the only tertiary education institution in Hong Kong with Nobel Prize winners on its faculty, including Chen Ning Yang, James Mirrlees, Robert Alexander Mundell and Charles K. Kao...
in 2001, the Hong Kong Economic Journal as well as Ming Pao were regarded as the newspapers with the highest degree of credibility in Hong Kong.
As The HK Economic Journal mainly focuses on reporting government policies and financial affairs, soft news plays a minor role in it. The style it adopts is very different from other local newspapers in Hong Kong, such as Apple Daily
Apple Daily
Apple Daily is a Hong-Kong-based tabloid-style newspaper founded in 1995 by Jimmy Lai Chee Ying and is published by its company, Next Media. A sister publication carrying the same name is published in Taiwan, Republic of China under a joint venture between Next Media and other Taiwanese companies...
, Oriental Daily News
Oriental Daily News
Oriental Daily News is a Chinese language newspaper in Hong Kong. It was established in 1969. It is one of the two newspapers published by the Oriental Press Group Limited , found by Ma's Family.-History:While Oriental Daily targets at a more mature reader group, Sun Daily Oriental Daily News is...
, etc., which stress their 'Entertainment' parts and sensationalize or exaggerate the harder news to promote sales. Unlike these tabloid-like newspapers, the HKEJ reports its news mainly by words, with few graphics. Detailed graphs showing the changes in the stock market are displayed precisely. Advertisements or story-like news are not found in the front cover. Due to all these elements, the Journal simply does not sell as well as these other 'popular' local newspapers.
One of the characteristics of the newspaper is that it mentions different business information to readers. This section can be found in the "Investment" part in which it discusses the changes in the market, no matter they are major or minor issues. For instance, it mentions some new services from the DHL Express
DHL Express
DHL Express is a division of the German logistics company Deutsche Post providing international express mail services. DHL is a world market leader in sea and air mail....
as well as the musical contest launched by McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
. The newspaper provides their readers with much substantial information that they need.
The other characteristic of the paper is that it contains detailed information on the funding market, including interpretation on the fund market and changes in the fund market. These columns are relatively rare in other newspaper in Hong Kong.
The role of the HKEJ in Hong Kong and China
The HKEJ plays an important role in relating HKSAR and the People's Republic of ChinaPeople's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
(PRC) as many senior officials of PRC seem to regard the Journal as a true reflection of Hong Kong situation. For example, during July 2003 (when the Hong Kong people organised a protest march against the government's plan to implement Article 23
Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23
Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 is the basis of a security law proposed by the Government of Hong Kong. It states:On 24 September 2002 the government released its proposals for the anti-subversion law. It is the cause of considerable controversy and division in Hong Kong, which operates as a...
of the Basic Law
Hong Kong Basic Law
The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, or simply Hong Kong Basic Law, serves as the constitutional document of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China...
), Mr. Cho aligned himself with the democratic camp and announced that if the government implemented the Article, he would stop the publication of the Journal. The reasons he provided were that it would be dangerous for the journalists to disclose the truth and express their own thoughts if Article 23 were to be implementated. He also opposed one of the terms in the Article, which states that the police can go into anyone's house to conduct a search or freeze anyone's assets without a court-issued warrant. The next day, the government made a concession by modifying some of the terms according to Mr. Cho's suggestions.
Additional information of the two special columns
There are 2 columns in HKEJ which deserve special attention: Mr. Lam's "Political and Economical Review" (林行止政經短評) and Mr. Cho's "Investor's Diary" (投資者日記).Since 1973, Mr. Lam has been writing the Journal's Editorial (i.e. Political and Economical Review), but even before that, his insightful views on the economy were already recognized by Mr. Louis Cha (then the boss of Ming Pao) during Mr. Lam time with Ming Pao. Mr. Lam's reviews are generally accepted as being objective, well-supported by facts and full of in-depth observations. One good example is during the 1989 4 June Tiananmen Square Massacre. Regardless of the anger expressed and protests taking place in every part of Hong Kong, Mr. Lam still gave practical and rational opinions about this issue. He had suggested ways to manage and organize the funds donated by the Hong Kong citizens to the Beijing students, as the contact between the two parties was blocked by the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) at that time. This conscientious action has surely contributed to the prosperity of the HKEJ.
After Mr. Lam stopped writing the editorial and started a column for himself in 1997, the style of his writing has then become more various. Apart from giving analyses on hard news
Hard News
Hard News: The Scandals at The New York Times and Their Meaning for American Media is a 2004 book by journalist Seth Mnookin about the reign of Howell Raines at The New York Times.Mr...
, he also writes articles about some interesting economics theories. According to Mr. Lam, his goal is to educate the public about (and perhaps even popularize) economics issues.
The other column of note, Mr. Cho's "Investor's Diary", is a highly respected analysis of the financial market. The column covers areas such as the worldwide stock market, oil prices, different financial tools and suggestions on best-buy equities. The column differs from the typical HKEJ style in that Mr. Cho seems to be fond of writing in Cantonese slang, probably because he thinks that it is more comfortable for the public to read. In addition, Mr. Cho likes making up nicknames for the government officials, one example of which is the acronym "IQT" for the Financial Secretary Mr. Henry Tang.
Related issues of the newspaper
A monthly magazine by the name of 'Hong Kong Economic Journal Monthly' (信報財經月刊) is associated with the newspaper. First published in March 1977, this magazine also belongs to Shun Po Co., Ltd. Its contents are mainly about Hong Kong, mainland China, and international economics and finance. Different from the newspaper, the magazine is sold around the world, including Hong Kong, mainland China, Macau, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Japan, Europe, Australia, and the United States. A total of 323 issues have been published as of February 2004. The current (2010) chief editor of the magazine is Mr. Chan King Cheung.Recent Development about the Selling of the Newspaper by the Lam's family
It was reported that, as early as 10 January, 2006, the Lam's family was in negotiation with Richard LiRichard Li
Richard Li Tzar Kai is the younger son of successful entrepreneur Li Ka-Shing and brother of Victor Li.Li was 26th in the Forbes List of Hong Kong’s 40 Richest people for 2010...
(head of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
-based telecommunication giant PCCW
PCCW
PCCW Limited is the holding company of HKT Group Holdings Limited, Hong Kong's premier telecommunications provider in the Information and Communications Technologies industry. PCCW also holds a majority interest in Pacific Century Premium Developments Limited...
) and another local mass-media company for the sale of the newspaper. On August 9, 2006 Li bought a 50% stake in the newspaper.
External links
Source: Pinyin translated with CozyChinese.COM