The two main press groups in Shanghai officially launched a combined group on Monday, following one of the most important mergers in Chinese media history.

The Shanghai Newspaper Group,  product of the merger between Shanghai Jiefang Daily and Wenhui-Xinmin United Press, is now China's largest  with estimated assets of 20.8 billion yuan ($3.4 billion), according to a statement.

Party secretary of the new entity, Qiu Xin, also group chief, said that "the consolidation of the two groups is in accordance with the industry's law of development and in response to media transformation."

The two groups occupy almost the entire print media market in Shanghai. Wenhui-Xinmin United Press Group owns 17 newspapers and journals, including the Xinmin Evening News, the first evening newspaper on the Chinese mainland. The Jiefang Daily Group owns 12 newspapers and journals.

"The merger of the two major press groups will reduce the total number of newspapers, especially those with similar contents and reader group. However, it is not a sign of decline of this industry but an opportunity for newspapers in this city to become better and more effective," Li Liangrong, a journalism professor from Fudan University, wrote in an editorial in the Jiefang Daily.

The Shanghai Newspaper Group also signed a contract on Monday with Baidu, one of China's leading Web services companies, to jointly initiate a "Shanghai Channel" on Baidu's online news website.

Qiu said the move signals an approach from the traditional media to evolve in a rapidly changing environment.

Xinhua - Global Times