Military shuts down 7 newspapers in reshuffle

Newspapers published by the seven regional military commands of the People's Liberation Army ceased operations on Friday, the military's flagship newspaper PLA Daily reported on Wednesday.

The oldest of them, Soldiers' News, published by the Guangzhou Military Command, was established in 1930; the youngest, Comrade-in-Arms of the Beijing Military Command, was born in 1949.

The closures are thought by some observers to indicate that the new regional military command structure announced in November by Xi Jinping, China's president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has begun to exert its influence.