Authorized by the Press and Publication Administration and the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, Shanghai Century Publications Group, the first publications group in China, started operation on February 24. ˇˇˇˇFive large publishing houses, including Shanghai People's Publishing House and Shanghai Education Publishing House which are all based in Shanghai, were merged into the new group. It boasts a capital of 416 million yuan. HomeNews 1999-02-25 Page4 Full Story in Chinese