Chinese consumer magazines : digital transitions in an evolving cultural economy

This chapter reviews the digital strategies of Chinese magazines and discusses the changing culture and economy of consumer magazines. It begins with an overview of the regulations and history of Chinese consumer magazine publishing, from the country's market reform to the digital disruption. The chapter outlines types of innovations adopted by Chinese magazine publishers dealing with the opportunities and challenges of digital publishing; these new strategies are illustrated with examples from the practice of some leading magazine titles. It summarizes the evolution of Chinese magazines and ventures into a discussion of their direction in the future. The history of contemporary Chinese consumer magazines since the Cultural Revolution encompasses roughly four stages, which have often overlapped in time: marketization; internationalization; privatization; and digitalization. In the context of mobile publishing and reading, three major disruptive forces – digital content distribution, social media, and online advertising – emerged to challenge the established models of consumer magazines.