Others have suggested a subsidiary of Alibaba or related company may be steering the talks.

After shares in Ming Pao's parent company Media China International spiked on Thursday, it issued a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange saying it was not aware of "any reasons for such price and trading volume movements".

Prior to the market's close the stock was up 19.3 per cent to $HK1.30.

While considered generally pro-Beijing, the paper, owned by Malaysian timber baron, Tiong Hiew King, has taken a more independent stance on issue like democracy and human rights on the mainland.

"At times it is still critical of Beijing," said Willy Lam, a professor of Chinese politics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

"It remains an influential newspaper favoured by intellectuals in Hong Kong."

If the deal goes ahead it would raise concerns about the further erosion of press freedoms in Hong Kong, as Beijing looks to tighten its grip on the former British colony and silence dissenting voices.

Alibaba's founder Jack Ma is seen as close to China's senior leadership and on Wednesday defended the group's purchase of the South China Morning Post.


"Trust us," he told a Wall Street Journal reporter. "Why do people have to think that if we have it, it will lose its independence? Why not with others? We also read the newspapers. We also want media independence and fairness. What basis is there that with us, there will be no more independence?"

The $HK2.06 billion ($A370 million) purchase of the newspaper announced this week sparked heated debate about why an e-commerce giant would want to buy a print media asset with falling revenues.

It has been compared to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' purchase of the Washington Post in 2013. Alibaba does own some media-related assets including stakes in China's version of Twitter, Sina Weibo, and financial news service China Business Network.

However, it is not clear how an English-language newspaper, which caters mainly to expats, would fit with these assets.

The Post's print circulation is around 100,000 and its revenue fell 8 per cent to HK$549.3 million ($98 million).

"Jack Ma wants to build up a media empire in line with Beijing's policy of projecting soft power around the world," said Mr Lam.

"It is a state-sponsored policy of using private mainland companies to buy up media companies."

Ming Pao has been the subject of controversy in recent years after its well regarded editor, Kevin Lau, was removed his position in January 2014.

A month later, following street protests over media freedoms, Mr Lau was seriously injured after a man wielding a meat cleaver slashed him five times. His chest cavity was exposed and nerves in his legs were severed.

Ming Pao made headlines again in March this year when its new editor, Chong Tien-siong, pulled a front page story which had new details about the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

Pro-democracy lawmakers in Hong Kong accused Mr Chong of wanting to shield Beijing from bad news and putting its interest ahead of readers.

