It was officially launched by Shen Hao on January 1, 2001 as a weekly newspaper,[5] as part of the Nanfang Daily Media Group.
[6] In the following years the newspaper has spawned several news media outlets under its umbrella, including Moneyweek, 21st Century Business Review, Global Entrepreneur, and 21cbh.com.
In September 2014, executives from the 21st Century Business Herald were arrested by Shanghai police,[8] who claimed they were suspected of extortion.
[10] In April 2015, the official website of 21st Century Business Herald, 21cbh.com, was ordered by the media regulator of China to cease operation because of news blackmail,[11] the publishing license of Moneyweek was revoked, and the newspaper was ordered to rectify.
[13] In December 2015, Shen Hao, the publisher of the 21st Century Business Herald,[14] was sentenced to four years in prison for extortion.