China is world's largest newspaper market

From a report on world newspaper circulation and advertising by the Paris-based World Association of Newspapers:

Three-quarters of the world’s 100 best selling dailies are now published in Asia. China has overtaken Japan as the country with the highest number of publications in the top 100.

Xinhua has published an article about the report, which also mentions that Reference News (参考消息) is ranked 8th newspaper worldwide in terms of circulation, while the People's Daily (人民日报) comes in 9th.

Reference News is certainly a popular publication. But is it really accurate to compare the circulation of the People's Daily to newspapers which consumers actually decide to buy?

LINKS:
Xinhua: Chinese daily newspapers make it into top circulation list (in Chinese)
World Newspaper Association: World Press Trends: Newspaper Circulation and Advertising Up Worldwide