The cat-and-mouse game between foreign-run magazines and the authorities has taken a fresh turn with the closure of three publications in Shanghai and the resurrection of Beijing Scene under a new title.
Shanghai publications ISH, Buzz and Shanghai Talk were all visited by government officials last month and told to stop publishing.
Editors said the officials were polite and did not confiscate equipment or issues. At least one, ISH, would be back in business this month, editor-in-chief Mark Kitto said.
The closures are part of a government clean-up of what are seen as irregularities in the publishing sector. For more than a year, Beijing has sought to tighten controls on Chinese publications, closing newspapers and restricting the range of publishing licences. Occasionally, this washes over to foreigners who are circling the mainland's potentially lucrative market.
Investors are keen to know what is on the minds of the authorities.
An American publisher said: 'They keep saying they are going to introduce a new publishing law but this is still a sensitive area for the Chinese. Unlike other sectors, it is ideologically important.'