| Reference News | |
| Owners: | --> |
| Founders: | --> |
| Publisher: | Xinhua News Agency |
| Political: | Chinese Communist Party |
| Language: | Chinese, Uyghur, Kazakh, Korean, and Mongolian |
| Publishing Country: | China |
Reference News is a Chinese newspaper published by Xinhua News Agency. Founded in 1931, it is ranked 7th in the world by circulation and 1st in China.[1] [2]
Reference News was first published on 7 November 1931.[3] The early editions of the newspaper were published under different titles in Ruijin until it was renamed Reference News in 1942.[4] It is published by Xinhua News Agency (formerly Red China News Agency, 1931 - 1937). As the Chinese government's official news agency, Xinhua translates and re-publishes articles by foreign news agencies. Before the 1980s, it was the only official channel for the Chinese public to have a glimpse of the outside world.[5] The paper is also published in the Uyghur, Kazakh, Korean, and Mongolian languages for ethnic minority groups in China.
On 2 January 1985, Reference News was approved to cancel its "internal publication" designation and switched to public distribution.[6] [7]