Ta Kung Pao is one of the most influential newspapers in modern China. The inaugural issue was published in Tianjing in 1902, and it was subsequently published in Shanghai, Hankou, Hong Kong, Guiling and Chongqing, followed by Hong Kong and Macao after 1949. The last mainland China issue of TKP was published in 1966.

TKP has witnessed some of the key events in the creation of modern day China, including the Revolution of 1911 and the founding of the new republic. It was then designated by the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the CPC as the government's official newspaper covering all international, political and economic news.

Now available outside of China for the very first time, this insightful book is a detailed study of the evolution of the media in China, as seen through the history and the pages of TKP. It's a faithful documentation of China's political and economic modernisation. Rong Xinchun discloses for the very first time the stories behind the stories, and the paper's true status and function within China's foreign relations strategies.

The coverage includes the author's dissections of the key articles, commentaries and editorials. These documents are important historical material for anybody studying the development of modern day China.