SINGAPORE, 27 May 2004 - In a first for Lianhe Zaobao, Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) today announced that its flagship Chinese daily will be printed and sold in Indonesia from 1 June 2004.

It will start with an initial daily circulation of 5,000 copies, which will be available in Jakarta and other parts of Indonesia, where Zaobao has a strong following of Indonesian Chinese readers.

The Zaobao’s Indonesian edition will be printed, distributed and sold by International Daily News (IDN) under licence by SPH, which entered into an agreement with the Indonesian publisher recently.

Indonesian readers will get the same version as the Lianhe Zaobao in Singapore. Under the agreement, Zaobao will electronically transmit its pages from Singapore to IDN’s facilities in Jakarta daily.

The new venture is in line with SPH’s strategy to broaden Lianhe Zaobao’s presence in the region and boost its circulation. Advertisers will also benefit from the wider reach, with the Indonesian edition.

Said Mr Robin Hu, Executive Vice President of SPH’s Chinese Newspapers Division, which also publishes the evening Chinese dailies Lianhe Wanbao and Shin Min Daily News: “Indonesia’s economy is intimately linked with that of Singapore. With more than 10 million Indonesian Chinese living in close proximity from us, this is a timely opportunity for Zaobao to extend its reach to Indonesia.

“Given the strong interest in Zaobao from Indonesian readers, we expect our Indonesian edition to sell well.”

Added Dr Ted Sioeng, Chairman of IDN: “Indonesia and Singapore are close neighbours. The cooperation of Lianhe Zaobao and International Daily News will enhance the cultural exchange between the two countries and further contribute to trade and economic development.”

International Daily News launched its first Chinese newspaper of the same name in the United States in 1981, and went on to publish its Jakarta edition in 2001. It later extended to Pontianak, Surabaya and Medan, where the paper is popular among the Indonesian Chinese readers. IDN will soon introduce its English and Bahasa Indonesian editions. Besides publishing its own titles, IDN also prints other foreign titles, such as Wen Wei Po from Hong Kong, People’s Daily and China Daily from China, which are
circulated in Indonesia.

Lianhe Zaobao was launched in March 1983 with the merger of the now-defunct Nanyang Siang Pau and Sin Chew Jit Poh. Besides Singapore, the influential Chinese daily is circulated in Brunei, Hong Kong, Vietnam and major cities of China like Beijing and Shanghai. Its online edition, Zaobao.com, which enjoys about 8 million page views daily, is hugely popular in China.

Issued by Singapore Press Holdings

For more information, please contact:

Irene Ngoo
Assistant Vice President
Corporate Relations
Singapore Press Holdings
Tel: 6319 1216
Email: ingoo@sph.com.sg

About SPH
Main board listed Singapore Press Holdings Limited is the leading news and information provider, offering quality content for print, Internet, TV and radio. It publishes 14 newspapers in the four official languages and six lifestyle periodicals. Everyday, 2.78 million individuals, or 90 per cent of people above 15 years old, read one of the SPH publications while the online editions of its six main dailies enjoy some 120 million pageviews a month. SPH has ventured into the broadcast medium and operates two popular free-to-air TV channels, Channel U in Chinese and Channel i in English. It also operates two entertainment radio channels, UFM 100.3 FM in Chinese and WKRZ 91.3 FM in English, under a joint venture company UnionWorks with NTUC Media.

About Lianhe Zaobao
The flagship Chinese newspaper of SPH, Lianhe Zaobao is the highest circulating Chinese daily in Singapore. It is an influential newspaper giving valuable insights into local and foreign news, and is regarded as an important source of political and economic news on East Asia, especially China. Lianhe Zaobao has a circulation of 190,637 copies on weekdays and 198,679 copies on weekends. It became an integrated news medium delivering content for print, TV and Internet with the debut of Chinese News TV on Channel U in May 2001. It won the prestigious IFRA Publish Asia Award for best in print (gold) in 2003. Lianhe Zaobao was launched in March 16,1983 with the merger of Nanyang Siang Pau (launched in 1923) and Sin Chew Jit Poh (launched in 1929).