[1] Inspired by the British Financial Times,[citation needed] as of September 2001, the Economic Observer has also been printed on salmon/peach-colored paper.

However, most of the articles from each week's newspaper also appear on the website at no charge, along with web-only content, which includes commentary and op-ed pieces from guest columnists.

Founded in August 2000, the Economic Observer began as a small news publication dedicated to supporting China's market liberalization and reporting on socioeconomic and political events with a stated commitment to journalistic integrity.

[5] In March 2010, The Economic Observer published an editorial calling on representatives of China's legislature to adopt reforms to the country's household registration system.

[6] The editorial was headlined, “Request for Representatives at the Two Meetings to Hasten Reform of the Household Registration System” A report in the New York Times[7] said that one of the editors involved, Deputy Editor of the Economic Observer Online Zhang Hong, was removed from his position as punishment for his role in the publishing the editorial.

[8] On 30 July 2011, a week after 40 people were killed in a high speed train collision near Wenzhou, the newspaper ignored a government censorship directive[9][10] to publish an eight-page feature[11] on the crash.