This announcement on news reporting restrictions is a bit of a suprise to me. They always had those restrictions, just look at Google they cannot display news or sites that are not ‘China’ friendly. Maybe they tightening up on those restrictions. What is interesting that they also have included Hong Kong and Macau SAR’s as foreign news sources whilst both are part of China, that Taiwan is excluded is understandable.

BEIJING, Sept. 10 — China imposed broad new restrictions Sunday on the distribution of foreign news in the country, beefing up state regulations on the news media.

Under new rules that were said to take effect immediately, the state-run New China News Agency said it would become the de facto gatekeeper for foreign news reports, photographs and graphics entering China. The agency announced in its own dispatch that it would censor content that endangers “national security.”

As reported in The New York Times - The wording of the announcement is broad enough to include all forms of foreign news and information, including those from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.