BEIJING - A JOURNALIST whose article led to authorities in north China shutting down her newspaper for three months is suing the government, in a rare act of defiance in the heavily-censored media industry.

Ms Cui Fan, a reporter for the China Business Post, wrote an article in Jul alleging wrongdoing at a branch of the Agricultural Bank of China - one of the largest in China - in the central province of Hunan.

She alleged that the Changde branch had illegally disposed of 4.6 billion yuan's (S$991.6 million) worth of non-performing assets.

Officials in north China's Inner Mongolia region, where the national paper is registered, then closed it down for three months from Sept 8, saying the article breached news propaganda discipline, Ms Cui's lawyer Zhou Ze told AFP.

Last Wednesday, Ms Cui filed a lawsuit against the press and publication department of the government of Inner Mongolia, according to Mr Zhou.

She 'asked the court to acknowledge that the defendant's punishment against the China Business Post was ineffective, and to revoke the punishment,' Mr Zhou said.

Ms Cui also asked the court to order the department to apologise for hurting her reputation, and to compensate her for the moral damage inflicted, Mr Zhou continued.

An official at the court in Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia where the lawsuit was filed, said 'they still had to review the case, and would then decide whether to accept it.'

Since filing the suit on Wednesday, there had been no new developments and Ms Cui had encountered no problems with the government, said Mr Zhou.

Ms Cui's action is a rare act of defiance in the Chinese media industry, which is strictly censored by the government. Journalists who step out of line can face serious consequences.

Some 30 reporters and 50 bloggers are currently in jail in China, according to figures released in May by the International Press Institute media watchdog. -- AFP