China's recent clampdown on foreign media is crimping the expansion plans of Western news organizations, at a time when many experts believe the Chinese market for news and financial data could be poised for explosive growth.
stymie：妨碍，阻挠 clampdown：压制，取缔，严禁 crimp：卷曲，抑制，束缚 poised：泰然自若的，镇定的
Among the news- and financial-information providers whose Chinese or English-language sites have been blocked inside China in recent months are Bloomberg LP, Thomson Reuters, the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, dozens of China-based Western journalists have been told their annual applications to renew their visas are on hold, according to people familiar with the matter.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said those were issues of "profound disagreements" with China, during a visit to the country this week.
"It's getting to the point where these media companies and their ability to do business in China has been curtailed," said James McGregor, a former chief executive at Dow Jones in China who is now the Beijing-based greater China chair at consulting firm APCO Worldwide.
get to the point：言归正传，直截了当地说 curtail：缩减，剥夺 block：阻塞，封闭，限制
The New York Times' Chinese-language website has been blocked since October of last year, roughly four months after it launched, following publication of stories on the family wealth of former Premier Wen Jiabao.
"That was the beginning of a new climate that has been more difficult for us," said Jill Abramson, executive editor of the New York Times.
The block has severely limited the site's ability to generate ad revenue in China, the company said.
revenue：税收，收益
Times Co. says it is re-evaluating the site as a business. Meanwhile, a lifestyle-focused website launched this fall by the Times was also blocked.
Access to The Wall Street Journal's Chinese-language site was blocked in mid-November, about the same time as Reuters's site was blocked.
Gerard Baker, editor in chief of the Journal's parent, Dow Jones & Co., said in a written comment that the company is "eager to continue to bring the world's news to China and China's news to the world. Transparency enhances trust."
The Journal's Chinese-language site, which has been operating for more than a decade, has 2.2 million followers on China's popular Sina Weibo social media site. Dow Jones is a unit of media conglomerate News Corp.
conglomerate：企业集团，聚合
A spokeswoman for Thomson Reuters' news division said its Chinese-language website has been blocked by the Chinese government, but the company hopes "access will be restored soon."
Bloomberg, whose website was blocked in late June of 2012, declined to comment.
The State Council Information Office, which regulates Internet news content, didn't immediately respond to phone and fax requests for comment on the website blocking.
Foreign media have a long history of conflict with Chinese government authorities, often tied to periods of turmoil or leadership change inside the country.
turmoil：混乱，骚动
This time, the media crackdown coincided with a turnover over the past year in Chinese leadership, along with the rollout of ambitious and risky economic reforms that have been accompanied by an overall clampdown in press and civic freedoms.
rollout：首次展示
This year alone, The Journal's Chinese-language site was blocked twice before the latest incident, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The latest pressure from authorities comes as China's potential growth is increasingly important for Western media. Print newspaper advertising revenues in the West have fallen in recent years, and growth in financial data revenues have slowed sharply.
China, in contrast, offers potential for huge growth, media consultants say, particularly for financial news and data. The crackdown comes just as many media and financial-information companies are ramping up investments and offerings, counting on a flood of interest and business as China opens up capital markets and investment and encourages its own companies to invest overseas.
ramp up：增强，加强
Foreign media companies recognize "it's a huge market, it's growing; therefore there must be a demand for business news and information; therefore, we want to have a presence, because one day we will be able to make a lot of money,'' says Bill Bishop, who writes a weekly newsletter about China and is a founder of MarketWatch, a financial news website that is now owned by Dow Jones.
To be sure, the financial-data market in China is currently a relatively small business.
Burton-Taylor International Consulting estimates the total Chinese financial-data market this year is valued at about $800 million, with Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters together accounting for around $150 million.
For each of the two companies, revenue from China accounts for around 1% or less of their total estimated revenue for the year, according to Burton-Taylor, which tracks the financial-information business. Dow Jones has a small presence in the financial data market, deriving approximately $3 million in annual revenue from China, estimates Burton Taylor.
Dow Jones and Bloomberg declined to comment on the figures. Reuters didn't respond to a request for comment Friday evening.
Because Chinese banks currently do less capital markets trading, they have less need for the data that is a core business for Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters, industry experts say.
But expected deregulation would likely change that. Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters' foreign exchange trading services would be poised for significant growth in the event that China's yuan is allowed to float freely against other currencies, for instance.
deregulation：违反规定
For Thomson Reuters alone, such a development could create a $100 million revenue business, one former executive estimated.
As for the advertising, particularly relevant for newspaper publishers like the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, China is a growing market.
Internet-ad spending in China was likely around $9.5 billion this year versus $36.3 billion in the U.S., according to global media agency ZenithOptimedia.
But Chinese spending is expected to increase by two-thirds to $15.9 billion by 2015, outpacing in percentage terms the estimated 41% increase to $50.9 billion in the U.S., ZenithOptimedia estimates.
And while foreign media companies aren't allowed to publish newspapers in China, Chinese-language news online is seen as a large opportunity. China had 380.7 million Internet users in October, compared with 225.2 million for the U.S., according to comScore.
ComScore doesn't disclose data about Chinese news sites but the firm estimates Western news sites like Reuters, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal and New York Times haven't figured prominently in the past year. The leading sites include Ifeng.com, QQ.com and Xinhuanet.com, according to comScore.