Statistics released by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce show that the volume of China's advertisement business in 1999 saw an increase of 15.7 percent to 62.2 billion yuan.

Among the volume of China's advertisement business, the turnover of professional advertisement companies was 27.78 billion yuan, up by 20.7 percent over 1998, accounting for over 40 percent of the total volume of the advertisement business.

The turnover of TV advertisements hit 15.61 billion yuan, up 15 percent over 1998 and accounting for 25 percent of the total volume. Turnovers of newspaper and magazines advertisements stood respectively at 11.2 billion yuan and 0.89 billion yuan. Radio advertisements saw a negative growth for the first time, with the business volume dropping by 6 percent to 1.25 billion yuan compared to the preceding year.กกกก

By the end of last year, there had been more than 64,800 advertisement businesses registered in China, 3000-plus over 1998. The number of employees reached 587,000, up 8,000 over the previous year.

Sources also indicate that the volume of advertisements business of Shanghai, Beijing and Guangdong continues to lead the country with their turnover accounting for over one-third of the national total.