Updated

The website of one of China's most prominent business newspapers has been shut down by authorities after its managers were accused of extorting money from companies it covered.

The penalties announced Thursday follow the detention of the publisher and general manager of the 21st Century Business Herald and 19 other people.

The national press regulator said the newspaper's website would be suspended and a magazine owned by the company, Money Weekly, stripped of its publishing license. The newspaper was ordered to undergo a management overhaul.

The official Xinhua news agency said investigators found the newspaper and website threatened to publish negative stories about companies unless they bought advertising.