New Express journalist to lose press card

Authorities overseeing the media in Guangdong announced on Thursday that the press card of a reporter from the province will be revoked after he was found to have taken bribes to malign Zoomlion, a listed heavy machinery company, through a series of news reports.

Chen Yongzhou, the reporter from a Guangzhou-based newspaper, the New Express, was officially arrested from Central China's Hunan province on Wednesday over allegations of damaging Zoomlion's commercial reputation.

The Guangdong Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television also asked the Yangcheng Evening News Group, the parent firm of the New Express, to oversee "rectification of the New Express."

It further said that the administration will conduct more investigation and those in the New Express that led to the publication of the untrue reports will be held responsible.

Chen was detained by the police on October 18 and accused of "fabricating facts" in his series that was published between September and August 2013.

Last week, in a China Central Television program, Chen admitted to accepting a total of 500,000 yuan ($82,200) in bribes from anonymous sources to write the "negative reports."

Before his confession, the New Express had twice called for his release and the All-China Journalists Association had released a statement on its website saying that the legal rights of journalists should be protected.

But after Chen's remarks, the association said he brought disrepute to the media.