China bans all sexually suggestive advertising on radio and TV

China has banned all sexually suggestive advertising on radio and television, state media reported Wednesday, in the latest media clampdown ahead of the country's biggest Communist Party meeting in five years.

Photo: China bans all sexually suggestive advertising on radio and TV

"Commercials featuring suggestive language or behavior or featuring scantily dressed women are detrimental to society," the China Daily said.

The government has already tightened its grip on television and radio programs over the last several months ahead of next month's Communist Party congress, a twice-a-decade meeting to appoint some senior leaders and set major policies.

China Daily cited the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, or SARFT, which last week issued strict rules for TV talent shows, banning "American Idol"-style mass audience voting by mobile phone text message and the Internet and forcing the programs out of prime time.

The latest ban includes commercials and programs involving sex-related health supplements, sex toys and advertisements for products and operations to enlarge or enhance women's breasts.

Earlier this month, SARFT ordered 11 radio shows off the air in southern and central China for talking too explicitly about sex or broadcasting material of an "extreme pornographic nature."

Radio talk shows about romance, sex and other personal matters are hugely popular in China, but producers sometimes run afoul of conservative Communist regulators.

Earlier this year, regulators banned television shows about cosmetic surgery and sex changes and a talent show that they deemed coarse.