Taipei  - A Taiwan newspaper shut down its Chinese-language daily in Europe for financial reasons, a magazine said Saturday.

The Paris-based Europe Journal, owned by Taiwan's United Daily News, ceased publication September 1, The Journalist said.

The Europe Journal is the second newspaper of the United Daily News Group to have shut since the Min Sheng Daily folded in 2006. The group still publishes the World Journal, the largest Chinese-language newspaper in North America.

According to The Journalist, the demise of the Europe Journal came as good news to the China-financed Europe News, or Nouvelles d'Europe, which was launched in 1983 and is circulated in nine European countries.

Since Taiwan and China split at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, Taipei and Beijing have been competing for the support of overseas Chinese.

With China's rise as an economic powerhouse and the expansion of its overseas media - like the launching of a 24-hour television channel in English, French, Spanish, Russian and Arabic - Taiwan is losing the race although many older overseas Chinese remain loyal to Taiwan. (dpa)