SHANGHAI, Jul 9 -- CHINA'S correspondent bureaus must register reporters with local news watchdogs amid the country's move to tighten management of the media, Xinhua news agency reported today.

Registration will include more personal information, including the reporter's name, age, title, political status, phone number and certificate number, said Li Dongdong, vice director of the General Administration of Press and Publications.

Local media will reveal the title, address and phone number of such bureaus, as well as the number of reporters it employs and the bureau chief's name, the report said.

People now can acquire correspondent bureau information from press.gapp.gov.cn and an updated version will be available soon, the report said.

China's news regulator has issued reporter's certificates and last year launched a campaign to tighten management of correspondent bureaus as some reporters seek payoffs to release positive news and some even extort money from companies in return for not reporting problems, Xinhua said.

"These wrongdoings hurt the reputation of newspapers as well as affect people's confidence in the media," Li said.

She said local news watchdogs will punish and close illegal correspondent bureaus and unqualified reporters will be fired.

Earlier this year, Lan Chengzhang, a reporter who worked for China Trade News, was beaten to death while investigating an illegal colliery in Shanxi Province. The mine owner thought Lan was not a real reporter.

Lan's press card didn't have a stamp from the General Administration of Press and Publications.

"There are false reporters coming almost every day, demanding payoffs in exchange for positive press or by threatening negative stories," a local propaganda official said.

However, the editor-in-chief of the Trade News has said Lan was "certainly a real reporter."

The colliery boss was sentenced to life imprisonment last month.