China has passed a law on internet crime, which provides for a crack down on political dissent, according to state media reports on Friday. The legislation was seen as the latest attempt by the authorities to control content and use of the internet, which has seen explosive growth - the number of users doubled in the first eight months of this year to 16.9 million.
Websites publishing news currently have to seek approval from a state information office.
Last month, China moved to gag dissent in internet chatrooms, where users have been increasingly bold in their criticism of government policy. China has also detained several people for activities over the internet. China's Ministry of Public Security said 1,000 internet crimes were reported in the first six months of this year, the same number as throughout the whole of 1999.