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 Front page of the first issue on 16 June 1949 | |||||||||
| Type | Dailynewspaper | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet | ||||||||
| Owner(s) | Chinese Communist Party (1982–present) China Democratic League (1949–1982) | ||||||||
| Publisher | Guangming Daily Press | ||||||||
| Founded | 16 June 1949; 76 years ago (1949-06-16) | ||||||||
| Political alignment | Chinese Communist Party | ||||||||
| Language | Chinese | ||||||||
| Headquarters | Beijing | ||||||||
| ISSN | 1002-3666 | ||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 光明日报 | ||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 光明日報 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
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TheGuangming Daily, also known as theEnlightenment Daily,[1] is a nationalChinese-language daily newspaper published in thePeople's Republic of China. It was established in 1949 as the official paper of theChina Democratic League. Starting from 1982, it has run by theChinese Communist Party (CCP), and was officially reorganized directly under theCentral Propaganda Department of the CCP from 1994.[2] As one of China's "big three" newspapers during theCultural Revolution, it played an important role in the political struggle betweenHua Guofeng and theGang of Four in 1976 and between Hua andDeng Xiaoping in 1978.
TheGuangming Daily, then romanized asKuangming, was launched on 16 June 1949 inBeijing. It was originally the official newspaper of theChina Democratic League, but later became theChinese Communist Party's official organ for China's educated elite.[3]
In 1955,Guangming Daily became the first newspaper in China to fully switch to the left-to-right horizontal text format.[4]: 29
During theCultural Revolution (1966–1976),Guangming Daily was one of the only three national newspapers that remained in circulation, together with thePeople's Daily and thePeople's Liberation Army Daily, and the sole magazineRed Flag. The four periodicals, known as "the three papers and one magazine", dominated China's public affairs. For safety reasons, regional newspapers and specialist magazines all took cues from the big four, and largely reprinted articles from them.[5]
Before the death ofMao Zedong, the paper fell under the control of the radical left-leanGang of Four led by Mao's widowJiang Qing. In October 1976, Vice PremierJi Dengkui played a significant role in taking over theGuangming Daily, helping Mao's successorHua Guofeng oust the Gang of Four and put an end to the Cultural Revolution.[6]
In 1978, the reformist CCP leaderHu Yaobang appointed Yang Xiguang, formerly with Shanghai'sJiefang Daily, chief editor of theGuangming Daily. Under Yang's editorship,Guangming was the first Chinese newspaper to stop publishingChairman Mao's Quotations on the front page every day.[7] On 11 May 1978, it publishedHu Fuming's famous editorial "Practice is the Sole Criterion for Testing Truth", refuting Hua Guofeng'sTwo Whatevers theory in support ofDeng Xiaoping'sReform and Opening policy. The article was quickly reprinted in almost all major Chinese newspapers, cementing support for Deng's victory over Hua.[7][8]
In November 1982, the newspaper was designated as under the control of theCentral Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.[2] In August 1984, it was restructured to be under the direct control of theCentral Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party.[2][9]
In 1998,Guangming Daily launched its official website, which was one of the earliest news websites in China.[10]
TwoGuangming Daily journalists, Xu Xinghu (许杏虎) and his wife Zhu Ying (朱颖), were killed on the night of 7 May 1999 in theUnited States bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during theNATO bombing of Yugoslavia.[11]
In March 2018,Guangming Daily won the ThirdNational Top 100 Newspapers in China.[12][13]
TheGuangming Daily has been documented to have been used as cover byMinistry of State Security (MSS) officers posing as journalists overseas.[14][15] In January 2026, Czech authorities arrested the Prague correspondent forGuangming Daily on suspicion of espionage.[16][17]
Guangming Daily's circulation reached 1.5 million in 1987, but as independent publications flourished during the Reform and Opening era, it dropped to 800,000 in 1993.[3]: 167 To survive in the market, it reduced political coverage and propaganda, and increased its coverage on culture and science.[3]: 167 Guangming Daily is considered to be a less political newspaper, and today focuses mostly on cultural, educational and scientific content.[18]
Guangming Daily is published by Guangming Daily Press, a deputy-ministerial-level institution.[18]
In 2003,Guangming Daily partnered with theNanfang Media Group (publisher of the highly successfulSouthern Weekly) to jointly publishThe Beijing News, which quickly became one of Beijing's most influential newspapers.[19]
Former defence official Paul Monk confirmed to this masthead that, in 1995, ASIO warned him that the same Chinese journalist– who introduced himself to Monk as a Guangming Daily newspaper reporter while Monk worked at the Defence Intelligence Organisation – was an MSS operative stationed in Australia.