China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII) announced in Beijing Tuesday it is launching a crackdown on junk e-mail.

A new regulation on e-mail servers was also released Tuesday and a center was set up to receive complaints about junk e-mail.

A survey conducted by the China Internet Association shows that during the period from August 2004 to April 2005, Chinese netizens received an average of 16.8 pieces of junk e-mail every week, accounting for over 60 percent of their total received e-mail.

"China has become a country seriously affected by junk mail," said Li Guobin, an official with the MII.

The market admittance system was adopted for e-mail server providers in the regulation and the IP address of the server are also required to be registered.

The regulation says that e-mail for advertising purposes should not be sent to subscribers without their permission. Additionally, advertising e-mails should be sent with the title of "advertisement" or "AD".

Punishment will be given to violators of the regulation.

During the activity, the China Internet Association will release a name-list of e-mail servers accused of sending junk mails for better supervision.

This is part of the pack of measures taken by the MII to clear the Internet and mobile phone networks.

Apart from the junk mail, the Chinese information industry regulator will require real name registration for mobile phone users. Short messages sent through handsets will be put under tight control as illegal messages spread more and more widely.

Statistics with the China Internet Network Information Center show that the number of netizens has hit 111 million and information telecommunication has become a major force driving the national economy and social development.

The ministry will improve management over information network, including the Internet, mobile communication and traditional telecom network, said Xi Guohua, vice minister of Information Industry.

Apart from the crackdown on illegal information, the project will also promote the use of information resources, e-business, e-education and on-line entertainment.

(Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2006)