HONG KONG -- A Hong Kong-based Internet firm owned primarily by China's official Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday it clinched its first commercial deal with Taiwan's official Central News Agency.
China Internet, in which Xinhua holds about a 60 percent stake, said the deal calls for it to repackage, promote, and sell real-time business news from Central News via the Internet to subscribers in mainland China and Hong Kong. The service will begin on Thursday and profits will be split by the two companies.
China Internet officials hailed the deal as a groundbreaking venture to provide an information link between Taiwan and the mainland. Central News was more low-key. "We are only concerned about business, and the deal is strictly apolitical," said a spokesman for the Taipei-based service. "China Internet will not carry our political or general news services."
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