China shuts down 60,000 porn sites in 2010

China shut down more than 60,000 pornographic websites this year, netting almost 5,000 suspects in the process, a government spokesman said yesterday. He vowed no let-up in the country's campaign against material deemed obscene.

Beijing has run a highly publicised drive against what officials said was smutty and lewd content, threatening the emotional health of children.

Critics accuse the Chinese government of tightening overall censorship, and say that the push has netted many sites with politically sensitive content.