A newspaper in Guangzhou published a front-page plea for the second day in a row calling for the release of one of its journalists by police in Hunan province.

The New Express' headline read, "Once again please set him free" on Thursday as it called on police in Changsha, capital of Hunan province, to free Chen Yongzhou and solve the problem within the legal framework.

Chen, who has been in criminal detention since Saturday, faces charges of "damaging business reputation" five months after the newspaper published his reports that Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Development, a giant engineering company in Changsha, allegedly falsified its sales and revenue in Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi provinces.