Portuguese language New York Times edition ready to launch in 2013

The New York Times announced Sunday that it will launch a Portuguese language edition in 2013.

The newspaper said that the digital-only edition will publish 30 to 40 articles per day from local writers and staff whose articles will mostly be translated from English to Portuguese.

One third of the content will be original and created exclusively for the site.

Brazil's growing economic and political importance is the likely reason behind the move.

"Brazil is an international hub for business that boasts a robust economy, which has brought more and more people into the middle class," said Arthur Sulzberger Jr, chairman of The New York Times Co., in a statement.

"As the world gets smaller and digital technology enables us to reach around the globe to attract readers with an interest in high quality news, Brazil is a perfect place for The New York Times to take the next step in expanding our global reach."

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The site will launch in the summer of 2013, headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and will be run by the foreign editor of the Times, Joseph Kahn, reported MarketWatch.

Mashable said that unlike users of the English edition, readers in Brazil will not need a digital subscription to view the content online.

The company statement said that graphics and multimedia will be added soon after the launch.

The New York Times already has a Chinese site that it launched in late June in a beta version. The full version of that site is expected to debut next month.