BEIJING (May 6, 2002) - Nearly 200 unlicensed Internet cafes were shut down recently in the eastern Chinese city of Shanghai, state-run media reported Monday.
The city's Bureau of Commerce and Industry closed 122 establishments in early Monday and more than 75 others at the end of April, Xinhua news agency said.
The latest campaign targeted Internet cafes in the Shanghai suburbs, it said.
The closures came as the Chinese government launched a crackdown Thursday on "harmful" content on the Internet, saying it wanted to protect youth from being corrupted.
"There is a rising trend online for illegal activities," Luo Gan, a communist party official in charge of law and order, said.
Many Chinese have no Internet connection at home and use Internet cafes. The cafe owners can face punishment if their customers access sites forbidden by the government.