Despite Rumors, HBR Will Continue Publishing in China

The Harvard Business Review (HBR) will continue to be published in China, contrary to press reports in several Asian newspapers, a Harvard official said.

According to Allan Ryan Jr., director of intellectual property for Harvard Business School Publishing, HBR’s Chinese publishers have assured the journal that the reports were the result of a “misunderstanding.”

“It doesn’t seem to be a problem,” Ryan said. “If they don’t have a problem, we don’t have a problem.”

The People’s Daily reported on March 29 that Chinese editions of the Harvard Business Review, Newsweek and Forbes did not have permission to publish.

According to the People’s Daily, none of the American magazines had submitted requests for approval to the State Press and Publication Administration (SPPA). The same article accused the Harvard journal of publishing under false pretenses.

By Chinese regulations, publishing without approval by the SPPA is a crime punishable by fines, confiscation of magazines and “related facilities” or “criminal penalties.”

Since the People’s Daily article, the story has been picked up by Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post and The Straits Times of Singapore.

The People’s Daily credits Wang Huapeng, director of the SPPA’s Foreign Exchange and Cooperation Department, as the official who noticed the American magazines’ oversight.

Wang could not be reached for comment.

Ryan said that the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences—which has published the journal in China since September 2002—investigated the reports and found them to be false.

Chinese law, which was recently altered to allow publication of foreign books and magazines, requires foreign companies to work through Chinese publishers. The Chinese firm runs the business side of the publication in China, but the American licenser has final say on content.

It was not clear whether Newsweek and Forbes were on the hook. Neither has begun to publish yet, but both have identified Chinese firms to partner with.