In the current issue:

Cross-media funding: is television the future for the film industry?
Revenues in China's film industry are still but a fraction of those in the television industry. However, with signs of steady growth in recent years and new market demands for film China's movie business is witnessing a renewed confidence and optimism about the future. At the same time, the television industry is facing increasing costs, higher demand for content to fill air time and a potential slump in advertising revenue as a result of the global economic downturn. However, with many recent successes in China's domestic film market being funded by television stations and television-centred media groups some analysts suggest that we can see the emergence of a new model of finance for the film industry as well as new production and funding opportunities for the television industry. In this Analysis, China Media Intelligence looks at the factors driving this new cross-media investment interest and asks whether it may be the shape of things to come

China's Internet statistics: changing user profiles
China's latest official report on Internet use reveals a maturing market with continuing strong growth and expansion. The Internet is now moving towards a broader social reach with some of the strongest growth coming in rural and lesser economically developed parts of the country. With Internet users now constituting more than a fifth of the population and more than 90 percent of them enjoying broadband access, it is now becoming more feasible to distinguish between different kinds of Internet users. In this Market Report, China Media Intelligence analyses the latest statistics and CNNIC's categorization of the country's Internet users to see how the profile of the average user may be changing

SARFT issues online video management guidelines
The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) has issued a new set of guidelines relating to the management of online video and audio

Lenovo restructures for different markets
Following the return of founder Liu Chuanzi as leader of its senior executive team, China's leading computer maker, the Lenovo Group, is restructuring its business once again

Lei Feng casting causes controversy
The casting of former Olympic diver Tian Liang in the role of Maoist, self-sacrificing revolutionary hero Lei Feng has caused outrage in some quarters of the Chinese public with many Chinese netizens expressing anger and dissatisfaction with the decision

Unicom reports first post-merger results
China Unicom has reported its first set of end of year results following the completion of its merger with China Netcom under telecoms industry restructuring carried out last year