Getting the word out

People get information via the media everyday, and investors make their buying and selling decisions on companies' information disclosure, so distributing the latest news quickly is a thriving business and a growing opportunity.

Established in 1954, PR Newswire, the global firm in public relations news and information distribution, is tapping the potential Chinese market through Xinhua PR Newswire, an alliance with Xinhua Finance, China's premier financial information and media service provider.

"There is a need for foreign companies to get their stories into China whether by enacting the launch of the new product, establishing a manufacturing plant in China, or looking for an investment from China institutions," Charles Gregson, chief executive officer of PR Newswire, tells China Business Weekly.

"We identified an opportunity in China, both help the Chinese companies get their stories about their products, their services, outing to the West and held overseas companies get their stories in China" says Gregson.

PR Newswire focuses on business news distribution worldwide and its Chinese businesses cover three aspects: sending stories from outside of China and arranging distributions among media in China; distributing stories originating in China about Chinese companies within the country; and sending stories originating in China overseas.

The alliance, Xinhua PR Newswire, began in 2003 and in 2004 began distributing stories within China from small, non-fi nancial companies.

After realizing it's a good vehicle for Chinese companies to reach the capital market in the United States and Europe, more Chinese companies, including those listed on the NASDAQ, began to use the PR Newswire services in 2004 and 2005, and the growth began to accelerate.

"The business in China is growing very nicely," Gregson said. "In 2003, we send out no stories at all, and last year, we distributed 7,500 stories in China."

"You can see the business is growing as more and more customers understand the value of distributing their stories via PR Newswire in China," he adds.

Some of Chinese companies listed overseas are now using Xinhua PR Newswire services for information distribution, says John M Williams, manager director of Xinhua PR Newswire.

Attracting more Chinese companies is one of the company's key strategies right now, says Williams. "Chinese companies listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen are a very large part of our immediate goal."

"We believe strongly that it's in the best interest of the investing public in China for Chinese companies, smalland medium-sized enterprises, to put as much information as possible," he says.

The firm sees potential opportunities in China. "With more information, the more they can learn what opportunity exist in the marketplace," says Williams.

The firm also wants to acquire some media monitoring service providers in China to strengthen its presence "if there is a good reason, if there is a strategically placed clipping service, and their customers are willing to pay for to use", Williams says.

(China Daily 04/28/2008 page7)