NEW YORK, June 28 (UPI) -- The New York Times has announced plans for a Chinese-language Web site aimed at China's new middle class and the upscale advertisers trying to reach them.
Joseph Kahn, the Times foreign editor who is in charge of the project, said the Web site will not register as an official Chinese news organization and will have its server outside the country. He said the staff would be held to the newspapers' standards of journalism.
"We're not tailoring it to the demands of the Chinese government, so we're not operating like a Chinese media company," Kahn said. "China operates a very vigorous firewall. We have no control over that. We hope and expect that Chinese officials will welcome what we're doing."
In a news release, the Times described the target audience as "educated, affluent, global citizens.''
About two-thirds of the content will be translated from the English-language newspaper, with the rest coming from editors and freelancers in China. The paper plans to hire about 30 editors and translators.
Denise Warren, the Times chief advertising officer, said Bloomingdale's, Salvatore Ferragamo, Cartier and the Milstein China real estate company all plan to advertise on the site.
The Wall Street Journal and Britain's Financial Times already have Chinese-language sites.
