A regional news alliance of 67 online news companies from the provinces of Hubei, Henan, and Shaanxi and the city of Chongqing was officially launched at a meeting on Wudang Mountains in Shiyan city, Hubei province on Aug 19, wudangshan.gov.cn reported.

Representatives of the news alliance members and other major media including Xinhua and Sina took part in the meeting, which focused on a possible new development pattern and business model for local news, and also aimed to encourage cooperation between news companies in the region.

Wu Shijie, member of the CPC Shiyan municipal committee, and Wu Haipeng, deputy editor-in-chief of ifeng.com, a news portal, announced the establishment of the regional news alliance. The members also confirmed the constitution of the alliance and settled issues such as criteria for future members.

The publicity office of CPC Shiyan municipal party committee, the magazine New Media and Shiyan Daily co-sponsored the meeting.

Edited by Niva Whyman and Le Qin