BRUSSELS (AFX) - The European Commission strongly criticised new rules imposed by China on the distribution of foreign news within the country.
"The important issue of freedom of expression we discussed with the Chinese authorities during the EU-China summit this weekend and we underlined that we oppose strongly this sort of restrictive practice," a commission spokesman told reporters.
On Sunday China released new rules governing the domestic distribution of news content by international media organisations, further beefing up state control of the press.
The rules mandate that the state-run Xinhua news agency will have the sole right to distribute and release foreign news content inside China.
The regulations also list what news content cannot be distributed in China including anything deemed to undermine the country's national unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity, or endanger its national security, reputation and interests.
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