China is to prohibit foreign companies from “on-line publishing” under new rules issued this week, as the state increasingly attempts to minimise Western sway.

Chinese sites are already among the planet ‘s most censored, with Beijing blocking many foreign Internet services using a system called the “Great Firewall of China”.

Regulations posted on a government site, set to go into force next month, state that foreign companies “aren’t to take part in internet publishing”.

The regulations define on-line publishing as the supply over the Internet of publications, maps, music, cartoons, computer games and “thoughtful text”, together with other content.

It was not clear how the ban would be enforced or whether it’d be applied to websites hosted on China-based sites or servers geared toward users in China.

The regulations say any Chinese publishers joining forces with foreign companies to supply on-line content would need prior approval from the body.

Chinese publishing specialist Xu Yi told AFP the consequences of the rules were not clear.

“I believe these regulations provide a legal foundation for the authorities to handle foreign firms setting up sites in China,” he said.

“I do not believe this means that sites started by foreigners in China will be compelled to close…it all depends on the Chinese government’s objectives”.

Writing on the web site Tech In Asia, veteran China watcher Charles Custer said the rules were an effort by SAPPRFT to play a larger part in content management, formerly viewed as the domain name of other government agencies.

“In practice, the fresh regulation is not likely to shift much beyond adding another hurdle would be publishers have to leap through,” he added.

The regulations come at a time of heightened political limitations in China.

Before, media organisations such as the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and Reuters have made huge bets on the Chinese hunger for foreign news views, setting up local language sites, simply to discover them blocked in the state.

Despite the Great Firewall, China has the world’s biggest Internet population of almost 700 million, making companies like Facebook fantastic to join the marketplace.