General Administration of Press and Publication
China's state-run General Administration of Press and Publication (新聞出版總署) screens all Chinese literature intended to be sold on the open market. The GAPP has the legal authority to screen, censor, and ban any print, electronic, or Internet publication in China. Because all publishers in China are required to be licensed by the GAPP, that agency also has the power to deny people the right to publish, and completely shut down any publisher who fails to follow its dictates. As a result, the ratio of official to unlicensed books is said to be 2:3. According to a report in ZonaEuropa, there are more than 4,000 underground publishing factories around China. The Chinese government continues to hold public book burnings on unapproved yet popular "spiritual pollution" literature, though critics claim this spotlight on individual titles only helps fuel booksales. Many new-generation Chinese authors who were the recipients of such government attention have been re-published in English and success in the western literary markets, namely Wei Hui's "Shanghai Baby", Anchee Min's controversial memoir "Red Azalea", "Time Magazine" banned-book covergirl Chun Sue's "Beijing Doll", and Mian Mian's "Candy". Online bestseller "Ghost Blows Out the Light" had to be rewritten to remove references to the supernatural before it could be released in print.