As soon as Xi Jinping came to power as president of China in 2012, the control over freedom of expression and media was immediately tightened, writes Jingrong Tong, of Brunel University London. For example, all websites, blogs etc. had to apply for and obtain government permission before they could disseminate news information.

The study analyses how critical journalism have been tamed in China since the regime of Xi Jinping.

The author claims that hostile political climate and the pursuit of profit have radically diminished the crucial conditions for sustaining critical journalism. Most investigative teams in news outlets across China have been closed down and many journalists have been arrested.

The unfavourable environment under the joint influence of political, commercial and technological factors has led to the taming of both critical journalism as well as news outlets supporting critical journalism, the author argues.

Picture: Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Business Summit, 4 Dec 2015 by GovernmentZA, licence: CC BY-ND 2.0