The online arm of China’s People’s Daily newspaper is planning to list in Shanghai early this year, making it the first news website to go public in the domestic market, state media reported. People’s Daily Online, which operates People.com.cn, has already struck investment agreements with the major telecom operators and some local private equity firms, according to people with knowledge of the situation. People’s Daily Online is largely reliant on advertising revenues, although it is keen to move into wireless value-added services. The site currently lags far behind commercial news portals such as Qq.com and 163.com in terms of traffic. China wants to convert state-owned enterprises in the cultural sector into market-oriented players to improve operational efficiency. It has said that 10 government-backed news websites will be encouraged to go public. Separately, the director of the General Administration of Press and Publication said that investment in the domestic media industry will increasingly be targeted at organizations with overseas readers as the government seeks to influence its international profile.