China is to ban foreign firms from “online publishing” under new rules issued this week, as the country increasingly seeks to minimise Western influence.
Chinese websites are already among the world’s most censored, with Beijing blocking many foreign Internet services with a system known as the “Great Firewall of China”.
Regulations posted on a government website, set to go into force next month, state that foreign firms “are not to engage in online publishing”.
The regulations define online publishing as the provision over the Internet of books, maps, music, cartoons, computer games and “thoughtful text”, as well as other content.
It was unclear how the ban would be enforced or whether it would be applied to websites hosted on China-based servers or sites aimed at users in China.
The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT), which issued a draft of the rules, could not immediately be contacted by AFP.
The regulations say any Chinese publishers cooperating with foreign firms to provide online content would need prior approval from the body.
Chinese publishing expert Xu Yi told media that the implications of the rules were unclear. “I think these regulations provide a legal basis for the government to manage foreign companies setting up websites in China,” he said.
