CEOAFRICA.com gathered from China that a journalist, who was jailed for defaming a partly state-owned firm in articles exposing alleged corruption, has admitted that he was guilty of the crime.

Chen Yongzhou, whose newspaper has made front-page appeals for his release said he is willing to admit his guilt and to show repentance.

It was revealed that the journalist said he writes false stories for money, although sources said it is impossible to know whether the admission was forced out of him.

Experts say confessions are still routinely coerced, despite an amendment to the criminal procedure law earlier this year forbidding the authorities from forcing anyone to incriminate themselves