The Ministry of Information Industry (MII) has suspended operation of 265 cross-regional value-added telecommunication service providers to put the market in order.

The ministry said these companies had violated industrial regulations, owed connect fees, delayed operation, changed shareholders without permission and escaped annual inspections.

The companies which had violated industrial regulations include Beijing Lei Ting Wan Jun Network Technology Limited Company, HYFSOFT Software Co. Ltd. and Shenzhen Tencent Computer System Co. Ltd.
 
The ministry has required relevant companies to rectify operation before June 24.
 
China has by now approved operation of more than 22,000 value-added telecommunication service providers which constitute a substantial part of the country's telecommunication industry.
  
Some providers, however, offered service to the fraud of customers and misled customers by spreading unhealthy information, said the ministry.
  
Customers are shifting their complaints from basic telecommunication services to the value-added services such as lnternet operation and nearly half of the complaints were made against the value-added service providers, according to the ministry.
 
As a result, the ministry has decided to standardize the market to meet consumers' demand, said the ministry.

(Xinhua News Agency June 10, 2007)