A newspaper company in Guangdong province urged police on Wednesday to release its reporter who was detained over a story that allegedly damaged the business reputation of a State-owned enterprise.

Chen Yongzhou, a journalist for the New Express, was detained by police in Changsha, capital of Hunan province on Friday morning after covering a story regarding problems in the enterprise, the newspaper said in a front-page comment on Wednesday.

The newspaper company verified all of the reporter's stories on Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Development Co., Ltd, and the only flaw in the stories was that the “513 million yuan of ads fees” should be the “513 million yuan of ads and reception fees”, according to the newspaper.

The police should publicize the evidence for detaining the reporter, or release the reporter immediately, said the newspaper.

Changsha police confirmed the arrest on its official micro blog on Tuesday night.

The Zoomlion company has not responded to the newspaper's statement as of 10 am on Wednesday.

In the comment, the newspaper company apologized for keeping silent for days over the issue, saying that “we were really timid, selfish and shameful”.

The detention of the reporter has triggered heated public discussion on social websites.

The New Express, based in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, was popular among readers, especially in the Pearl River delta region, according to its website.

anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn