Leading Shanghai Newspaper Closes Shop

The front page of Thursday's Oriental Morning Post trumpets the news that the Shanghai-based newspaper will be transformed into internet-based "new media." Photo: Caixin

(Beijing) — One of Shanghai’s top newspapers will cease publication at the end of the year, joining a wave of state-owned traditional Chinese media trying to transform themselves into web-based news providers to compete with a growing field of private-sector rivals.

As part of its transformation, the parent of Oriental Morning Post announced on Wednesday it has also raised 610 million yuan ($87.7 million) from six new investors, who will get 17.8% of a company whose main asset is now its 2-year-old new-media platform The Paper, or Pengpai.