THE former editor of China's largest state-run newspaper has jumped 19 floors to her death amid fears she was struggling with the "mental strain" of producing party propaganda.

Hu Xin, a well-known figure in the Chinese communist party's strictly-controlled state media industry, died on Tuesday after plunging from the paper's headquarters.

According to a colleague, she had suffered from depression and insomnia for more than a decade, Radio Free Asia reported.

A fellow journalist, identified only by her surname Zheng, told the broadcaster: "I think she was pretty well-known; maybe this had something to do with her work, or maybe with her family.

"It has to be one of the two, right? Depression is very common in the media, because the amount of fakery we have to write gets to us psychologically.

"Maybe she felt that she was still a person of conscience. Who knows? It's complicated. She's not the only servant of the state to suffer from depression, either."

However, another journalist named Zhou told RFA many within the industry feared the government was using depression as an excuse.

Zhou said: "It's more likely to be part of a divided sense of self, and they are just blaming it on depression.

"These propaganda types are so rigid in their thinking, but once they start letting it out, there's no holding them."

The People's Daily is the biggest newspaper group in China and is published internationally, reaching more than 3million people.

It was found in the years following the Second World War and is known for publishing the views of the ruling communist party.