Chinese authorities have shut down 162 websites that had been found providing pornographic and "lewd" content in their audio or video segments, according to a statement released by the country's online watchdog on Monday.

The blocked websites had not acquired permits to broadcast audio and video programs issued by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), said a statement issued by the Special Operation Office for Crackdown on online Porn and Lewd Content.

The websites include www.baigujing.com, www.bt990.com and other sites mainly based in Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces.

The websites added to a total of 341 audio and video sites that have been blocked by the SARFT and telecommunication authorities since Chinese government launched a nationwide campaign in January to sweep off pornographic and obscene contents on the Internet.

So far, more than a thousand of websites have been blocked by the authorities for distributing porn and other lewd materials in texts and pictures.

The SARFT also asked all websites not to post TV series online which had not been censored by the administration.

(Xinhua News Agency March 31, 2009)