Australian Chinese Daily

Australian Chinese Daily
The Australian Chinese Daily was first published in Sydney on 19th March, 1987. It was against a backdrop of a major intake of Chinese-reading migrants, arriving as a result of

(1). The ending of the Vietnam War in the mid 70s. About 80,000 people were settled here under humanitarian/refugee program; approximately half of these read Chinese;

(2). The uncertainty of Hong Kong's sovereignty in early 80s also attracted a considerable number of its middle class citizens, and

(3). The Education Export Program of the mid 80s and subsequently the political turmoil at Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989. The Australian Government’s interim policy of providing four-years temporary residency to led to the eventual permanent settlement of approx. 30,000 Chinese students.

The Australian Chinese Daily seized the opportunity, responded quickly to meet its readers' needs, not only to provide the most up-to-date information on daily events as they unfolded in China, but also actively involved itself in their rallies that sprang up in Sydney and the ACT. The high profile taken by the newspaper was swiftly rewarded by a dramatic circulation rise in a matter of days.

It is also noteworthy that, in 1990, the Australian Chinese Daily was first to adopt its layout from traditionally vertical top-to-bottom, right-to-left columns to the horizontal left-to-right format. Mainland Chinese students were accustomed to this style.

Such decisive measures put the newspaper on a very firm foundation; most of those students became regular readers and in many cases, advertisers.

In 1988, the Australian Chinese Daily pioneered the introduction of a free weekly magazine – the Australian Chinese Weekly, inserted in all Saturday editions. This bold initiative has set the precedence and since become an integral part of other Chinese daily newspapers in Australia.

Contact Details

Australian Chinese Daily
327-331 Sussex Street,
Sydney NSW 2000

P.O.Box K525
Haymarket NSW 1240
Australia

Ph: (02)9261 3033
Fax: (02)9261 3525
E-mail: info@aucd.com.au