The future of China's most independent and outspoken publication is in doubt following a mass walkout of its commercial staff and widespread rumours that many members of its editorial team are planning to follow them out of the door.

The hollowing out of Caijing magazine or the loss of its pioneering editor, Hu Shuli, would be widely perceived as a sign of renewed tightening of Beijing's controls over the media.

Under Ms Hu's leadership, Caijing has forged a reputation for hard-hitting exposés of corruption, a rarity in China's state-owned and heavily censored media industry. Ms Hu has also banned her journalists at the bi-weekly magazine from accepting payments from the people or companies they report on, a practice that is common in Chinese journalism.