Visitors look at books at a book fair in Beijing in this Nov 26, 2010 file photo. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

BEIJING - Three state-owned textbook publishers and two other companies merged to form a new Chinese publishing group Saturday, in the latest move to reform the country's state-owned publication business.

Related readings:  Publishers branch into equity market  Digital learning market to grow  Chinese digital publishing racing ahead  Chapter ends as bookstore closes after losing millions

The new company, China Education Publishing & Media Group Ltd, was formed from the People's Education Press, the Higher Education Press, and the Language and Liberation Press, three major publishers of textbooks and reference books for schools and colleges, as well as the China Education Publications Import & Export Corp. and China Educational Instrument & Equipment Corp..

The founding of the new company marked important progress in the reform of China's culture sector, said Li Changchun, member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Political Bureau, in a letter of congratulation on the inauguration.

Li said he hoped the new company would improve and reform its management, give full play to its advantages and resources to achieve a good commercial performance and social impact.

China's state-owned publishing houses used to be run as non-profit public undertakings. Since 2009, the government has begun to restructure small publishing houses into big corporations and introduce corporate governance to sharpen their competitive edge.

Of 528 state-owned publishing houses, 435 had undergone restructuring by November.

The new company was expected to become a leading player in the country's publishing market, a modern competitive corporation with international influence, said State Councilor Liu Yandong, at the founding ceremony.