BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Politics, economics and the nuts and bolts of newspaper readership underlined the annual gathering of the Asia News Network (ANN) in Beijing on Friday.

    The annual conference also shone a spotlight on regional integration, openness and the impact of the Internet and commercialization on China's media.

    The conference brought to Beijing more than 30 editors and executives from Asian countries, and was hosted by China Daily, whose editor-in-chief Zhu Ling becomes chairman of the group this year.

    The impact of China on other regional economies and the future of the country's economy were two topics at the heart of the discussions held over three sessions and the 13th sitting of China Daily's CEO Roundtable, held to coincide with the conference.

    CEO Roundtables bring together top executives and government officials and have been held in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing.

    Founded in 1999, the Asia News Network is a grouping of 14 newspapers from Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam.

    Once a "sleeping dragon," China is now playing a more important role both regionally and globally, according to the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, which funds the Asia News Network.

    China is generating tremendous interest, thus the choice to hold the meeting in Beijing.

    "Giants always evoke a little bit of interest because people ask: 'Where are they going?'" To look for answers, a group of panelists were gathered for the event at the Kempinski Hotel including Anthony Saich, chair of the International Affairs Faculty at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, Long Yongtu, secretary general of the Boao Forum, and Wen Tiejun, dean of the School of Agriculture and Rural Development at Renmin (People's) University of China.