China has issued its first batch of Internet publishing licenses, says Interfax-China.

"China's National Copyright Administration (NCA) has issued Internet publishing licenses to 50 companies, allowing them to publish text, graphics and multimedia on the Internet, it states, adding:

"The 50 companies include 12 Internet portals such as Sina, NetEase and Sohu, as well as 22 publishing groups, 6 newspapers, 5 magazines and 5 audio and video publishing companies.

"A full name list will be announced later next week."