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Journalists will have to pass a national digital exam to test their loyalty to the regime and Xi Jinping before issuing their press card. AFP Photos / Greg Baker

A loyalty test for state media journalists in China. Loyalty to the thought of the head of state Xi Jinping. Starting in October, 10,000 reporters and editors will undergo a " pilot test " before national exams are put in place, and press cards will be issued only to those who succeed.

With our correspondent in Beijing, Stéphane Lagarde

As is the case for most large state-owned companies, official media journalists are no exception: you have to know the Chinese president's quotes at your fingertips to advance your career. According to the South China Morning Post , loyalty tests on the Xuexi Qiangguo mobile application, a kind of digital "little red book" dedicated to the thought of Xi Jinping, should initially concern 14 online news organizations and about 10,000 journalists in Beijing.

►To read too: The online press under closer control in China

That before exams are set up for the entire profession, tests to prepare, again with the famous application launched by the Propaganda Department last January. Of the five sections of this diploma in socialism with Chinese characteristics reserved for the media, at least two will be devoted to the political thought of the head of state, and one to Marxism.

These tests were already carried out collectively and not numerically " every two or three years " within the editorial team confided us a colleague who worked for the Central Television of China. Digital technology here reinforces the ideological control, without having repercussions in terms of sanctions. " One of my sisters got about fifty points on the application, another three thousand points this same confrere , but it is rather over-zealous ! "

Promotion via the app

The cramming of the policy of the single thought would however be a plus to progress in the hierarchy, without that until now it harms those who had less time to devote to his smartphone . The novelty here is to link the obtaining of the press card to the success of the exam as indicated in a note issued by the Chinese Communist Party's Media Control Bureau last month.

Additional stress for the editors if the decision is actually implemented, as this would be added to the social credit system aimed at framing the behavior and thinking of individuals. Those who fail, however, will have a second chance and will be able to retake the exam according to the same authorities.