The local Public Security Bureau in Changsha, Hunan Province, announced through its official Sina Weibo account Tuesday that a journalist with the Guangzhou-based newspaper New Express has been put under criminal detention since Saturday.

Chen Yongzhou, the journalist, was detained for suspected damage to commercial reputation, and the investigation is ongoing, according to Changsha police.

Chen published a series of 10 reports from September 2012 to June this year, criticizing Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Development (Zoomlion), a Changsha-based construction machinery company, for exaggerating profit, tunneling interest, deforming marketing measures and suspected fraud, reported caixin.com.

Zoomlion was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2000 and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2010.

The New Express stated on its official Weibo account Tuesday that the newspaper will take a legal approach to secure interview rights for its journalists, and will publish stories regarding Chen's detention in Wednesday's paper.

The paper also said the All-China Journalists' Association was paying close attention to detentions made by Changsha police across the region, and has started an investigation.

Liu Hu, another journalist with the New Express, who publicly accused a senior official of corruption, was officially arrested on charges of libel earlier this month.

Global Times