Praise and brickbats for China's latest Nobel Prize winner

BEIJING (AFP/REUTERS) - The Chinese Communist Party's top propaganda official on Friday extended his congratulations to author Mo Yan for winning the Nobel prize for literature, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.

Li Changchun, a member of the top party leadership who oversees propaganda affairs, said in a letter that Mo Yan's victory "reflects the prosperity and progress of Chinese literature, as well as the increasing influence of China", the report said.

It marked the highest-level official response so far to Mo Yan's award, which was announced on Thursday.

But even as China basked with pride in the announcement, opponents of the government branded it a shameful validation of state controls on publishing.