Caijing magazine hit by mass resignations

Over two-thirds of mainland financial magazine Caijing‘s business staff have resigned, the South China Morning Post reported. General Manager Daphne Wu Chuanhui and eight of her nine business directors resigned, and a Caijing staff member said that 70% of the 100-person business department have resigned or will do so soon. The exodus has caused speculation that charismatic founder and managing editor Hu Shuli may also be preparing to leave. Whether she stays or goes, Caijing‘s finances are at risk. The business department generates nearly all the profits for the mainland’s most profitable business magazine. Some believe that the resignations are a maneuver in Hu’s negotiations with the magazine’s owner and publisher, the Stock Exchange Executive Council (SEEC). There are rumors that Hu has been trying to pressure the SEEC to surrender majority control by bringing in outside investors, and threatening to leave and launch new business publications if SEEC declines the proposal. Caijing has a strong reputation in China and abroad for its investigative reports and commentaries, but the relationship between Hu and SEEC head Wang Boming has decayed following Wang’s decision to reserve the majority of Caijing‘s advertising revenue for SEEC, keeping the magazine’s operating budget small.