WENHUI-XINMIN United Press Group, the parent of Shanghai Daily, has tied up with Hanvon to launch digital newspapers on Hanvon's more than 100,000 e-book readers.

The Wenhui Daily and Xinmin Evening News are already available on Hanvon's online bookstore. The two parties will launch more newspapers and magazines in the future.

There will be a three-month free trial before users have to pay 0.5 yuan (7 US cents) for each digital newspaper.

Shanghai Daily became the first newspaper in Asia to be available on Amazon Kindle as it seeks to expand its influence to Europe and America.

Earlier this month, officials from the General Administration of Press and Publication estimated that 700,000 e-book readers sold in China in 2009. They also said sales were likely grow fourfold to more than 3 million units that may account for 30 percent of the global market.

The global e-book market will soar over 124 percent annually on average until 2013, with revenue expected at US$2.5 billion, according to United States-based research firm NextGen.