Tighter Regulation for Online News Outlets: Eye on Chinese Media

(Bloomberg) -- WEB NEWS: China's internet regulator will tighten restrictions on ONLINE NEWS outlets, the Xinhua News Agency reported, citing a regulation released Tuesday. The Cyberspace Administration of China will replace the State Council Information Office as the regulator of all online news platforms, and service provider ventures with and entities backed by foreign investment should go through a security review, Xinhua reported. The internet watchdog's rules, set to take effect June 1, require "online news service providers to abide by the law, promote healthy internet culture, and safeguard national and public interest," Xinhua said.

In Other Reports:

• SOUTH KOREANS in China are choosing to leave and take their companies with them due to "economic issues and fluctuations in the relationship between the two countries" over a U.S. missile shield deployed outside of Seoul against Chinese objections, the Global Times reported. The Communist Party tabloid said Wangjing, known as Beijing's Korea Town, was a center for South Koreans until deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery, and quoted local expatriates saying they feel unwelcome and restaurant owners saying business has dried up.
• SEA LINK: Xinhua reported that the world's longest cross-sea bridge, which will link Hong Kong and Macau with Guangdong Province, is nearing completion after engineers installed a 6,000-ton segment. The 12-meter element weighs more than 25 Airbus A380 jets and will connect tubes forming the tunnel section, Xinhua said, citing the chief engineer of the section. The 55-kilometer bridge will open to traffic this year.
• BULLET TRAIN: China is developing new high-speed trains with a maximum speed of 400 kilometers per hour with an eye on exporting them to countries taking part in the Belt and Road Initiative, China Daily reported. The trains will incorporate new materials such as carbon fiber and aluminum alloys to reduce weight and increase efficiency, the paper reported, citing an engineer at a unit of the country's top railway vehicle maker, China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. The trains should be ready by 2020 to help build out the country's high-speed rail network, the world's largest.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Miao Han in Beijing at mhan22@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Malcolm Scott at mscott23@bloomberg.net, Jeff Kearns, Gregory Turk

With assistance from Miao Han