Southern Publishing and Media Company Ltd has entered the pre-examination period for a planned initial public offering, according to Oriental Morning Post.

The publishing company, co-established by Guangdong Provincial Publishing Group and Nanfang Media Group in 2010, plans to debut on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, according to the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

Southern Publishing owns eight individual publishing companies, one newspaper, 18 periodicals and one provincial distribution company. It has established its own digital publishing company, and has published e-books.

Related reading: Publishing sector urged to be competitive

Currently, more than 20 cultural enterprises have applied for IPOs, according to information on the official website of CSRC, including companies involved in movie production, publishing, media and advertising.

Analysts think cultural and media enterprises will feature strongly in the capital market this year.

huangying@chinadaily.com.cn