Chinese tabloid is a newspaper format that became extremely popular in the People's Republic of China in the mid-1990s.
The rise of the tabloid format is associated with withdrawal of governmental subsidies to newspapers in the late 1980s.
[2] Faced with the possibility of bankruptcy, many newspapers changed their formats to emphasize investigative reporting and bold editorial policies.
[citation needed] Others argue that although tabloids have inadvertently led to a fragmented and decentralized press structure that undermines core party organs, the Chinese regime has maintained a fundamental stronghold on public discourse through media market influence and political control.
[3] Chinese tabloids have been crucial in breaking some of the major stories on social crises facing mainland China including the AIDS epidemic in Henan,[4][5] the dangers of coal mining, and the corruption inherent in the system of custody and repatriation.