A Chinese newspaper has published a front-page apology after one of its reporters who has been detained due to allegations of defamation made a televised confession.
News Express had previously printed editorials on its front page appealing to the Chinese police in Hunan province to release Chen Yongzhou, stating there was no evidence of wrongdoing.
According to China Daily, the U-turn from the Guangzhou newspaper came after the journalist appeared on China Central Television and said he had received money to write defamatory articles about Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Development.
The heavy-engineering company is based in Changsha, Hunan province.
In the apology, New Express said it had failed to properly review Chen's articles before publication, which had caused serious harm to public trust in the media.
Chen was taken into custody at his home in Guangzhou on Oct 18 and accused of damaging Zoomlion's reputation.
He admitted posting more than 10 unverified stories that the company had losses of State assets, abnormal sales practices and false financial reporting between September 2012 and August this year, the report added.